who invented the stethoscope

The stethoscope was invented in 1816 by René Théophile Hyacinthe Laënnec, a French physician. Laënnec was inspired by observing how sound travels through solids when he saw two children communicating by sending sounds through a long piece of wood. He then rolled a sheet of paper into a cylinder and used it to listen to the heart sounds of a patient, which led to the creation of the first stethoscope, initially a wooden tube. This invention allowed for mediate auscultation—listening to sounds from inside the chest via an instrument rather than placing the ear directly on the body—which was especially useful and less embarrassing in certain cases. Laënnec's work also laid the foundation for modern clinical auscultation and descriptions of various lung and heart conditions.