Medieval Islamic Medicine - Hardcover

Pormann, Professor Of Classics And Graeco-Arabic Studies Peter E; Savage-Smith, Research Associate Wellcome Unit For The History Of Medicine Emilie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1589011600 ISBN 13: 9781589011601

Publisher: Georgetown University Press, 2007

Synopsis

The medical tradition that developed in the lands of Islam during the medieval period (c. 650-1500) has, like few others, influenced the fates and fortunes of countless human beings. It is a story of contact and cultural exchange across countries and creeds, affecting many people from kings to the common crowd. This tradition formed the roots from which modern Western medicine arose. Contrary to the stereotypical picture, medieval Islamic medicine was not simply a conduit for Greek ideas, but a venue for innovation and change. Medieval Islamic Medicine is organized around five topics: the emergence of medieval Islamic medicine and its intense crosspollination with other cultures; the theoretical medical framework; the function of physicians within the larger society; medical care as seen through preserved case histories; and the role of magic and devout religious invocations in scholarly as well as everyday medicine. A concluding chapter on the "afterlife" concerns the impact of this tradition on modern European medical practices, and its continued practice today. The book includes an index of persons and their books; a timeline of developments in East and West; and a section on further reading.

About this title

Review:

Without question, this volume can be considered the best and most critical introduction to the field and a guide for future research. . . . Anyone interested in the history of Islamic science will find this a useful book to own.

--American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences

The authors take a fresh approach and offer imaginative conclusions.

--ISIS

About the Author:

Peter E. Pormann is a Wellcome Trust Lecturer in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick. He is the author of The Oriental Tradition of Paul of Aegina's 'Pragmateia' and Al-Kindi's Philosophical Works. Emilie Savage-Smith is professor of the History of Islamic Science at the Oriental Institute and a senior research fellow of St. Cross College, both at the University of Oxford. She is the author of Magic and Divination in Early Islam and Science, Tools, and Magic.

About this edition

• Publisher: Georgetown University Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1589011600
• ISBN 13: 9781589011601
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 223