Illustration of the French physician, Rene Laennec, examining a patient with tuberculosis in front of students in Paris, France. He is listening to the internal sounds of a patient's body with a stethoscope in hand. Laennec's invention of the stethoscope in 1816 was a significant development in modern medicine. He discovered that using his device was superior to the typical method of placing the ear over the chest. It bears little semblance to the modern stethoscope, consisting of a simple cylinder made from wood and metal. This elementary first design was soon improved, and the stethoscope eventually became the one instrument common to all doctors worldwide. Artwork by Theobald Chartran (1849-1907).