Final answer:
Hippocrates' contributions to medicine by seeking natural causes for diseases and examining the relationship between diseases and the environment laid the groundwork for the development of epidemiology.
Step-by-step explanation:
Hippocrates' work is part of the history of epidemiology because he is known to have examined relationships between the occurrence of disease in populations and environmental factors. As the father of Western medicine, he sought natural causes for diseases, dismissing supernatural explanations, which laid the foundation for the scientific approach in understanding diseases and their spread. Later epidemiologists, such as John Snow, built upon these early concepts to develop the field further, leading to a scientific investigation of disease patterns and thereby shaping public health policy.