Canon Of Medicine, The (Avicenna)

The Canon of Medicine was written by Avicenna starting around 1013 c.e. In this encyclopedic work, Avicenna synthesized the [Page 313]knowledge of many disparate medical traditions, including those of Hippocratic, Galenic, and Dioscoridean persuasions, as well as those of Iranian and Indian origin. In the 12th century, the impact of Arabic texts, like Avicenna’s The Canon of Medicine, helped spur the development of medical science in the West. This work was widely recognized as the most comprehensive medical textbook of its time and remained an authoritative source for centuries.

Abu ‘Ali Al-Husayn ibn ‘Abdallah ibn Sina was born in 980 c.e. in Afshena, then part of the Persian Empire and now Uzbekistan. He is frequently simply referred to as Ibn Sina; in the West, he was ...