Ibn Sina, known in the Latin West as Avicenna, was a Persian physician and polymath whose Canon of Medicine systematized Greek, Islamic and Persian medical knowledge into a single organized reference. Translated into Latin in the twelfth century, the Canon remained a standard medical textbook in European universities into the seventeenth century, longer than almost any other medical work in history. This entry describes his medical work specifically; his philosophical work is a separate facet of the same historical figure held elsewhere in the family of atlases. This atlas records what the historical record supports and is not medical advice.
Facts
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Specialist In
The Canon of Medicine includes a systematic account of the brain and nervous system and their disorders, drawing on and extending Galenic neuroanatomy.
Source The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of HumanityRoy Porter
Ibn Sina's Canon of Medicine, completed 1025 CE, is Unani medicine's most authoritative and enduring codification, though the system was synthesized over centuries by multiple physicians before and alongside him.
Source Islamic Medical Manuscripts: Encyclopedias
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Divinity Atlas: Avicenna, the same subject.
- Also in Science Atlas: Ibn Sina, the same subject.
Sources
1. The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity
Roy Porter, W. W. Norton and Company, 1997
2. Avicenna (Wikipedia)
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Islamic Medical Manuscripts: Encyclopedias
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was Ibn Sina's Canon of Medicine still being used in European universities centuries after he died?
It organized earlier medical knowledge into one teachable reference and was translated into Latin in the twelfth century.
The Canon of Medicine gathered Greek, Islamic and Persian medical knowledge into one organized reference, which made it easy to teach from. It was translated into Latin in the twelfth century, and it then remained a standard medical textbook in European universities into the seventeenth century, longer than almost any other medical work in history. Some accounts extend its classroom use later still. This atlas records what the historical record supports and is not medical advice.
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