The History and Development of Aviation Medicine

Abstract

The development of aviation medicine can only be understood in the context of the scientific advances and technical innovations that made flying possible, with balloons in the 18th century, with gliders in the 19th century, and with powered aircraft in the 20th century. The forerunner of aviation medicine was the study of high mountain physiology. The Jesuit priest J. A. de Acosta described the hypoxia symptoms he experienced during his stay in the Andes in the 16th century and thereby coined the term “mountain sickness.” Chinese tradesmen also suffered from the symptoms of mountain sickness on their journeys through the Hindukush and the Karokorum mountains and reported these 1600 years before de Acosta did so in 1590. Evangelista Torricelli (1608–1647) made an important contribution to altitude physiology with the development of the mercury barometer in 1643. Additionally, he coined the term “air-pressure” and was the first to perform animal experiments under negative pressure conditions. Otto von Guericke (1602–1686) developed the air pump in 1650 and was thereby the first person to create a “vacuum” (1654). Only a few years later, in 1659, Robert Boyle (1627–1691) constructed an air pump. With the help of his colleague Robert Hooke (1635–1703), he operated the prototype of a vacuum chamber in 1677 (Fig. 1). By