The Stethoscope

Who invented the stethoscope and when?

In 1816, the French physician Rene Theoplhie Laennec (1781-1826) introduced a perforated wooden cylinder which concentrated the sounds of air flowing in and out of the lungs, and described the sound which it revealed. The modern form of stethoscope, with flexible tubes connecting the earpieces to a circular piece placed against the chest, was developed later in the nineteenth century.