Medical Breakthroughs — 20th Century

The twentieth century produced more medical discoveries than any century before it, and the pace of change kept speeding up. Scientific knowledge grew rapidly and new inventions followed one after another. Yet the same century saw more deaths from disease, famine and war than any other. Both facts are true, so any judgement about twentieth-century 'progress' has to weigh them against each other.

Several features of the period help explain why discovery accelerated so quickly:

• Industrialised societies grew wealthier, so they could pay for new technology and research. Populations kept growing and more people lived in towns and cities.
• Better communications meant that ideas and results could be shared and tested quickly, rather than staying with one doctor or one laboratory.
• Many societies became less religious and looked to scientists, rather than to faith, for answers to medical problems.
• Many countries were democracies. Voters expected governments to provide better health care and could put pressure on them to do so.
• The USA became the world's dominant economic and military power. It had the money to fund research and the reach to spread its ideas and medical products across the globe.

These factors overlap. Wealth paid for better communications, and democratic pressure helped steer money towards health. Keep them in mind as you meet each breakthrough, and ask which factor mattered most in each case.