The Greeks created rational medicine, even though their work was not always or even often fully scientific in the modern sense of the term. The core of this book is a summary of the seminal Hippocratic Corpus, selections from which are quoted direct. The different aspects of Greek medicine are considered under the headings of the modern science, in order to give the reader the clearest possible picture of the Greek contribution. Particular care has been taken to avoid placing the Greek achievement on a higher level than the evidence warrants and to distinguish between mere rational speculation and hypotheses that could be tested against observed facts. The philosophical background to successive phases of medical thought is also indicated, for in the ancient world, philosophic theories constantly influenced medicine just as general attitudes in science do today.
Additional sections discuss the social setting and ethical attitudes of Greek physicians.
There is an appendix on the cult of faith-healing which centered on the god Asclepius. This lucid account will be of great interest to the historian of science and the medical practitioner as well as to the classical historian. In the years 1936 to 1939, he taught at the Universities of Manchester and Bristol and after military service in the war, took up his appointment at the Queen's University, Belfast, where he has lectured in the Department of Greek since 1946. Aspects of Greek Medicine is the product of a lifelong interest in biology and medicine. Bibliography Indices 240 pages.