History of Pharmacology: Europe

Europe has played a key role in the development of modern medicine, including modern pharmacology, from the 17th century onward. For instance, the antibiotic revolution, which turned many previously deadly diseases into treatable conditions, began with the discovery of penicillin by the Scottish physician Alexander Fleming at St. Mary’s Hospital, London, and of the first sulfa drug by the German scientists Josef Klarer and Fritz Mietzsch in Germany. Many earlier scientists, including the Italian Amedeo Avogadro, the Frenchman Louis Pasteur, and the German Oswald Schmiedeberg, the latter often dubbed the “father of pharmacology,” made important contributions to the development of modern pharmacology.