Samuel Hahnemann is the founder of homeopathy, the concept that a disease can be cured by infinitesimal doses of a substance that in larger quantities mimics disease symptoms. During Hahnemann's life time, physicians routinely used bleeding and purging to treat disease, and many medicines were more likely to poison than to cure. Hahnemann was horrified by the toll such treatment took on patients and developed homeopathic medicine as an alternative.

Hahnemann was born on April 10, 1755, to Christian Gottfried and Johanna Christian Hahnemann, in Meissen, Germany. Hahnemann was highly intelligent but not physically strong as a child. His early schooling was often interrupted so he could help to support his family. Even when in school, his family also had trouble affording his tuition. When he was 15, his teachers proposed giving this bright student lessons for free. He was especially gifted in languages and later turned to translation for part...