Diorama showing René Laennec examining a patient at the Neck

Set in the Necker Hospital in Paris, France, in 1816, this diorama shows René Laennec (1781-1826) examining a patient. He is listening to the patient’s chest with his new invention, the monaural stethoscope. Before the stethoscope, the physician had to place his ear to the patient’s chest or body to hear sound. But physical contact between patients and physicians (who were mostly male) was minimal…