View source for Diversity and Disparity in Ideas

Disease: Would it be possible to create a phylogenetic tree to trace the evolution of our conception of disease? Can we relate the breadth of the tree at various points to landmark scientific developments (e.g., the discovery of penicillin, the invention of the microscope). What would this say about the "marketing" of disease (a cynic might say that in today's drug R&D, each invention of a drug gives rise to a disease classfication)?

Epistemology: The growth and development of the modern university has been accompanied by a branching of disciplines (all from a "root" of natural philosophy) - can we trace an historical development of the landscape of ideas in the branching of departments and specialties, and subspecialties in academia? (note that today, universities are trying to find ways to reunify disciplines.) Is this too grand? Can we start in a particular discipline (e.g., mathematics, chemistry - which seems to have kept records of things like this)?