History of Life Sciences and Medicine, Volume 1

1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-78945-208-2
Verlag: John Wiley & Sons

Buch, Englisch, 336 Seiten, Format (B × H): 159 mm x 239 mm, Gewicht: 620 g

Medicine has accompanied human history since its very origins and, unlike any other discipline, it grapples with matters of life and death. Today, understanding the evolution of medicine and life sciences, as well as the features that make them unique, is all the more important as these disciplines are undergoing major transformations.

History of Life Sciences and Medicine 1 offers a new and updated perspective on medicine in the Greco-Roman world, putting Western medical traditions and approaches into perspective and comparing them with those of other cultures: China, India, Egypt, Mesopotamia, as well as the legacy passed down by the Arab world. It also explores the fields most directly connected to medicine, such as the study of animals and plants.

This book traces the historical journey from the origins of medicine to Hippocrates – considered the father of medicine – and further on to the fundamental contributions of Hellenistic medicine, up to Galen and Late Antiquity. It examines major discoveries in anatomy, nosology, physiology and therapeutics, as well as the organization of medical practice and associated institutions.

This cross-disciplinary and contextualized approach also provides a better understanding of the complexity of the very concept of disease, the role of the physician, and the doctor-patient relationship, as well as the influence of the societal context on the practice of medicine.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Perilli, Lorenzo

Fachgebiete

• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, Formalen Wissenschaften & Technik
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften
• Medizin | Veterinärmedizin Medizin | Public Health | Pharmazie | Zahnmedizin Medizin, Gesundheitswesen Geschichte der Medizin

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Presentation of Field "History of Science" xi
Jean-Claude DUPONT

Medicine and the Life Sciences in the Ancient World: An Introduction xiii
Lorenzo PERILLI

Chapter 1. Egyptian Medicine 1
Paola COSMACINI and Christian ORSENIGO

1.1. Medical thought and the Weltanschauung of the Egyptian man 1
1.2. The observed body 2
1.3. Healers 6
1.4. Written sources 8
1.5. Diseases: a general assessment 14
1.6. The field of trauma 21
1.7. Healing remedies 23
1.8. References 27

Chapter 2. A Retrospective History of Babylonian Medicine 39
Markham J. GELLER

2.1. Syriac Book of Medicine (3rd century CE) 39
2.2. The Babylonian Talmud 42
2.3. Theory in Greek medicine 43
2.4. Theory in Akkadian medicine 44
2.5. Anatomy 47
2.6. Diagnostic 48
2.7. References 51

Chapter 3. Medicine and Healing in Early China 53
Dolly YANG

3.1. Introduction 53
3.2. Medicine during the late Warring States, Qin and Han dynasties 54
3.3. Notions of microcosm-macrocosm 56
3.4. Formation of canonical texts 57
3.5. Classical theory 61
3.6. Diagnosis 69
3.7. Therapy 71
3.8. Pharmacopoeia 73
3.9. Conclusion 74
3.10. References 76

Chapter 4. India's Early Medical History: Buddhism and the Beginnings of Ayurveda 81
Kenneth G. ZYSK

4.1. Introduction 81
4.2. Four phases of Indian medicine 82
4.3. Vedic medicine 83
4.4. Ayurveda 83
4.5. Historic transition 85
4.6. Buddhism's contributions to Early Indian medicine 86
4.7. The Buddha's case histories 88
4.8. Medicine in Later Buddhism 92
4.9. Buddhist medical texts 93
4.10. Discussion and conclusions 94
4.11. Summary 96
4.12. Appendix 97
4.13. Sources and recommended reading 98

Chapter 5. Greek Medicine: A Brief Historical Outline 99
Lorenzo PERILLI

5.1. Historical outline 99
5.2. A survey on the medical literature of antiquity 115
5.3. References 124

Chapter 6. Medicine in Ancient Greece and Rome: Social Structures and Institutions 127
Vivian NUTTON

6.1. Pre-classical Greece 127
6.2. Greek medicine and the Ancient Near East 129
6.3. Classical Greece 129
6.4. Literacy and a wider interest in medicine 132
6.5. Religion and medicine 133
6.6. Human healers 136
6.7. The Hellenistic world 139
6.8. Medicine moves West 144
6.9. Medicine in the Roman world 148
6.10. Doctors in the Roman Empire 153
6.11. Military medicine 155
6.12. The career of Galen 157
6.13. Medicine in the Late Antiquity 159
6.14. Conclusion 165
6.15. References 167

Chapter 7. Greek Medicine: Semiotics, Physiology, Nosology 169
Amneris ROSELLI

7.1. Texts and tradition 169
7.2. The living body 170
7.3. Nosology and symptoms 174
7.4. Humors 178
7.5. Pneuma 181
7.6. Permanence and innovation in Hellenistic and imperial medicine 183
7.7. References 185

Chapter 8. Anatomy and Knowledge of the Human Body: Nerves, Brain, Heart 187
Vito LORUSSO

8.1. Introduction: palpation, dissection and observation 187
8.2. The early days of anatomy 189
8.3. Anatomy in the Hippocratic Corpus 191
8.4. Anatomy according to Aristotle 194
8.5. Anatomy according to Diocles of Carystus and Praxagoras of Cos 199
8.6. Anatomy according to the Alexandrians: Herophilus and Erasistratus 200
8.7. Anatomy in the early imperial era 201
8.8. Anatomy according to Galen 202
8.9. Galen's other works 206
8.10. Anatomical illustration in manuscripts 207
8.11. References 208

Chapter 9. Greek Medicine: Therapeutics 213
Laurence TOTELIN

9.1. Introduction 213
9.2. Dietetics 216
9.3. Pharmacology 217
9.4. Surgery 221
9.5. References 223

Chapter 10. Zoology in the Ancient Greek World and Its Reception in the Islamic and Latin Worlds 225
Tommaso ALPINA and Andrea FALCON

10.1. Zoology before Plato and Aristotle 225
10.2. Plato 228
10.3. Aristotle 230
10.4. The transition from the Late Ancient to the Arabic reception of Aristotle's zoology 233
10.5. Medicine and zoology in Avicenna: tradition and innovation 234
10.6. The Latin tradition to Dante 237
10.7. References 239

Chapter 11. Botany in Greece 241
Luciana REPICI

11.1. In the beginning, Aristotle and Theophrastus 241
11.2. In the distant past and the near future 245
11.3. In Rome 250
11.4. The missing link 253
11.5. References 258

Chapter 12. The Arab World 261
Fabian KÄS

12.1. Sources 262
12.2. Physicians 264
12.3. Alternative conceptions 266
12.4. Historical development 267
12.5. Disciplines and literary genres 271
12.6. Conclusion 275
12.7. References 275

List of Authors 279
Index of Names 281
Index of Terms 287
Summary of Volume 2 295
Summary of Volume 3 301

Über Autor(innen)

Lorenzo Perilli is Professor of Classical Philology at the Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata, Italy, and Director of the Research Center on Antiquity, Mathematics and Philosophy "Forms of Knowledge in the Ancient World." He is also Head of the Department of Literature, Philosophy and Art History. His research focuses on ancient medicine and science, textual criticism, pre-Socratic philosophy, the digital environment and AI.