The founder of homoeopathy, Samuel Christian Hahnemann, was born in Dresden, Germany, in 1755. Despite an impoverished background, he acquired a good education and studied chemistry and medicine at the universities of Leipzig, Erlangen and Vienna. After qualifying as a doctor in 1779, he set up his practice.

Although Hahnemann worked mainly as a doctor, he supplemented his income by writing articles and books on medicine and chemistry. In these writings he protested against the harsh medical practices of the time, especially blood-letting, purging and the drastic doses of medicines that were administered to patients, often with terrible side-effects. He argued for better public hygiene and advocated the importance of sensible eating, fresh air, exercise and less cramped housing conditions. At a time when over-crowding was common and standards of hygiene were poor, he advised regular bathing and cleanliness of bed linen. Hahnemann became increasingly disillusioned with conventional medical practice, eventually giving up his work as a doctor to become a translator.

By the late 18th century, Europe had entered a period of upheaval and social change. With the Industrial Revolution came widespread technological advances and there were new scientific discoveries. In medicine, considerable work was done to identify and extract the active ingredients of herbs and other plants. The first important breakthrough occurred in 1803 in Germany, when Friedrich Serturner isolated morphine from the opium poppy.