For questions regarding the history of more or less scientific methods of healing.
Medicine is the science of healing people and preventing diseases. Science for healing animals is called veterinary medicine. Medicine is also a synonym for drug, i.e. chemical substance that is intended to cure.
Healing is one of the oldest human activities. Although methods used in pre-historical, ancient or medieval times would not be called now as scientific, some of them were adopted and are still in use (e.g. using herbs).
Hippocrates is often credited as the father of medicine. The breakthrough in medicine started in renaissance, as after reformation religious prohibitions of analysing human body lost their significance.
Questions tagged medicine should cover one of the following topics:
- history of medicine and unconventional (i.e. not scientific) methods of healing, both human and veterinary,
- methods used in yesteryears to cure,
- history of pharmacology, i.e. creating of drugs,
- history of other related sciences, like anatomy, surgery, dental care etc.,
- history of epidemic, great diseases and methods of preventing them. Note there is a separate disease tag,
- history of hospitals and other places intended to cure people, and emergency care like ambulances,
- history of contraception or birth-control (if performed in medical way),
- people working in medicine (medical doctors, discoverers, nurses etc.).
Please note that there is a separate death tag. This can be combined with medicine in questions related to causes of someone's death.
