Medieval Islamic Medicine - Paperback

by Peter E. Pormann (Author), Emilie Savage-Smith (Author)

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 the story of contact and cultural exchange across countries and creeds, affecting caliphs, kings, courtiers, courtesans, and 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. The book is organized around five topics: the emergence of medieval Islamic medicine and its intense cross-pollination 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 chapter-by-chapter annotated bibliographic essay. Pormann is the author of The Oriental Tradition of Paul of Aegina's 'Pragmateia' (Brill 2004) and Al-Kindi's Philosophical Works (OUP, 2007). Savage-Smith is senior research associate at the Oriental Institute, Oxford, and the author of Magic and Divination in Early Islam (Ashgate, 2004) and Science Tools and Magic (OUP, 1997).

Author Biography

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.