
René Laennec: Inventor of the Stethoscope - vmorgulis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Laennec
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emiliobumachar
Good read. Here's the best part:

In 1816, I was consulted by a young woman laboring under general symptoms of
diseased heart, and in whose case percussion and the application of the hand
were of little avail on account of the great degree of fatness. The other
method just mentioned [direct auscultation] being rendered inadmissible by the
age and sex of the patient, I happened to recollect a simple and well-known
fact in acoustics, ...

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orware
I remember reading an old Reader's Digest Medical Compendium type book in high
school that I had found at a thrift store and they had this story in there. If
I can find the book I'll share how they wrote it in there (but he was self-
conscious about putting his head on her bosom if I remember correctly so he
came up with his alternative method because of that so as not to make her feel
uncomfortable).

