Supplementary readings for Week 3's lectures include:
- excerpts from Al'-Arjuzat fi' t-tibb (Poem on Medicine) by 'Abu 'Ali al-Husain ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Sina, called Avicenna (980-1037);
- Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum (ca. 11th c.) commonly attributed to "John of Milano", English translation (1608) by Sir John Harington (1561-1612) accompanied by excerpts from The English physitian: or an astrologo-physical discourse of the vulgar herbs of this nation (1652), by Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1655):
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Because of the vast extent of Alexander's empire, the rich legacy of Greek ideas on the "what," "why," and "how" of the physical world reached learned people throughout the Mediterranean and as far east as the Indus Valley. Thanks to productive schools and translation centers established throughout the region, Greek thought continued to guide and influence the work of curious investigators for centuries after the empire's dissolution. Individuals attempting to untangle the
complexities of the organic world relied on the age-old authority of Aristotle,
Hippocrates and Galen augmented by the insight found in Avicenna's highly respected works.
By the 17th century, English-speaking readers unschooled in Latin could refer to a variety of medical handbooks such as The Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum, a compilation of easy to remember and recite aphorisms
presumably hailing from the faculty of one of the most prestigious medical schools in Europe, and The Pisse-Prophet Lectures by Thomas Brian.
Who was the intended audience of these medical guides? On what do they base their authority?
On what or whom do YOU rely for answers to your health questions?
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