Hippocratic Writings (Classics S.)

Rating:
Summary: Taste of Ancient Western Medicine
Review: This work is a sampling of the Hippocratic Corpus, a collection of ancient Greek medical works. Hippocrates himself may have written some, but certainly not all, of the texts. The collection spans centuries and contains slightly differing views. This makes for a fuller picture of ancient Greek medicine. As one reads through the book, the reader gets a real sense of the medical theories and "facts" of the time. A majority of Hippocratic Writings is concerned with internal medicine and diseases. At the beginning, and interspersed throughout, there are discussions on the philosophy of being a physician. There is a large section about how to treat limb fractures, and the section called The Nature of Man describes the physiological theories of the time. The book ends with a discussion of embryology and a brief anatomical description of the heart. The work is not too difficult to read and seems to be very well translated. The large introduction to the book serves well to place the setting of the book and understand a bit of the translation. A Glossary of Names appears in the back. This seems to serve more as an academic reference as it is not necessary to refer to it as one reads the book. Along with the general index, there is the Supplementary Index to Medical Treatises. This index lists instances within Hippocratic Writings that, in the context of current medical knowledge, describes some now more commonly known medical conditions and diseases. Some knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and ancient Greek scientific philosophy are helpful in reading the book.