Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine in which practitioners treat patients using highly diluted preparations that are believed to cause healthy people to exhibit symptoms that are similar to those exhibited by the patient.
The collective weight of scientific evidence has found homeopathy to be no more effective than a placebo.
The basic principle of homeopathy, known as the "law of similar", is "let like be cured by like." It was first stated by German physician Samuel Hahnemann in 1796.
His "law of similar" is taken on his word as an unproven assertion, and is not a true law of nature based on the scientific method.
Homeopathic remedies are prepared by serial dilution with shaking by forceful striking on an elastic body, which homeopaths term succession.