English 'stethoscope' was coined in 1819 by René Laennec from Greek 'stēthos' (chest) + 'skopein' (to examine) — born from an act of medical modesty when Laennec rolled paper into a cylinder to avoid placing his ear directly on a patient's chest.
A medical instrument used for listening to the action of someone's heart or breathing, typically having a small disc-shaped resonator placed against the chest and two tubes connected to earpieces.
Coined in 1819 by French physician René Laennec from Greek 'stēthos' (στῆθος, chest, breast) + 'skopein' (σκοπεῖν, to look at, to examine, to observe). Laennec devised the instrument in 1816 after feeling it was immodest to place his ear directly against a female patient's chest to hear her heartbeat. He rolled paper into a cylinder, applied it to the chest, and discovered
Laennec invented the stethoscope not for acoustic reasons but for reasons of decorum. He was embarrassed to press his ear to a young woman's chest and instead rolled up a sheaf of paper. To his astonishment, the tube amplified heart sounds far better than direct contact. Propriety accidentally produced a revolution
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