Science and technology allow for new discoveries, and if utilised properly can result in lives saved. However, science and technology wasn't advanced in the Middle Ages so had little effect on the development of medicine.

Here are 2 main examples of the role that the science and technology played:

• ❖ Roman water supply systems had fallen into ruin, so some new towns used pipes made of poisonous lead.
• ❖ People didn't understand contagious diseases, which meant that the Black Death spread quickly in overcrowded towns.