Islamic Medicines PDF

The origins of the word, “chemistry” The Arabic word al-kimiya ‘ ‫ﺍﻟﻜﻴﻤﻴﺎﺀ‬is composed of the article al (the) and kimiya’ (chemistry). This word reached the West with the translation movement in Europe, which took place in the twelfth century. The Arabic form al-kimiya’ is the origin of...

The origins of the word, “chemistry” The Arabic word al-kimiya ‘ ‫ﺍﻟﻜﻴﻤﻴﺎﺀ‬is composed of the article al (the) and kimiya’ (chemistry). This word reached the West with the translation movement in Europe, which took place in the twelfth century. The Arabic form al-kimiya’ is the origin of the word alchemy which is used to denote the science of alchemy which preceded modern chemistry. Kimiya’ without the Article “al “ is the origin of the word chemistry. «Alchemy became a prominent science in Alexandria in the early years of the Christian era. The majority of the inhabitants of Alexandria and the other cities in Egypt were Egyptians, with small communities of Syrians and Greeks. The Egyptian industrial skills in metallurgy, dying and glass making were combined with the Syrian, Babylonian and Greek philosophical contemplations and scientific method, in formulating the methods of alchemy.» http://www.history-science- technology.com/Articles/articles%2010.htm The origin of alchemy is today traced to ancient Egypt, especially Alexandria; from there to Syria, and to Harran in southeastern Anatolia. Babylonian refugees fleeing from the Persian Achaemenid invasion by Cyrus the great’s army (539 BC), carried their ideology and technique into Egypt and practiced alchemy there using the Greek language; and this is how Egyptian alchemy had originated. The earliest work on chemical processes and transformations were conducted in the ancient world, Egypt, Mesopotamia (Assyria and Babylon), the Indian sub-continent, and China. Central Asia also stands out as a centre of the Ancient World for metal procurement. Out of the encounters of Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Indian, Chinese and Central Asian technologies, the ancient sciences of alchemy and chemistry especially re-flourished along the Silk Roads. The Silk Road is neither an actual road nor a single route. The term instead refers to a network of routes used by traders for more than 1,500 years, from when the Han dynasty of China opened trade in 130 B.C.E. until 1453 C.E., when the Ottoman Empire closed off trade with the West. Alchemy: Metallurgy and glass-making. Irrefutable, factual knowledge as the basis of chemical preparations of remedies and medicinal concoctions. Alchemy Alchemists were after the rules of converting one substance into another. in the process they uncovered a host of medicinal compounds and improved distillation and sublimation techniques. Khalid Ibn Yazid (died 704), an Umayyad prince, is famous for his work on alchemy or ‘ilm al saná ( the Art). Khalid summoned from Egypt a number of Greek scholars who were well versed in Arabic and commissioned them to translate works on the Art of alchemy into Arabic. He was the first in Islam who ordered the translation of works on astronomy, medicine and alchemy. Khalid Ibn Yazid learnt the Art of alchemy under Maryanus the Hermit, who was either an Egyptian or a Syrian, and a follower of the Melkite Church. Maryanus was in turn a pupil of Istfan (Stephanus) of Alexandria. Jabir ibn Hayyan (721 – 815), born in Tus, Khorasan, was the son of a pharmacist. his father's profession may have contributed greatly to his interest to chemistry. in Kufa, he became a student of the celebrated Islamic teacher and sixth Imam Cafer al-Sadik. It is said that he also studied the work of the Umayyad prince Khalid Ibn Yazid. He began his career practising medicine, under the patronage of Jafar Ibn Yahya, Vizir of Caliph Haroun al-Rashid. Jafar ibn yahya, hayyan’s protector, was a member of the influential Barmakid family, formerly Buddhist leaders of the Nava Vihara monastery. Ja'far also appears along with Harun al-Rashid in several Arabian Nights tales, often acting as a protagonist. He had a reputation as a patron of the sciences, and did much to introduce indian science into Baghdad. He was credited with convincing the caliph to open a paper mill in Baghdad, the secret of papermaking having been obtained from Chinese prisoners at the Battle of Talas (in present day Kyrgyzstan). By distilling various salts together with sulfuric acid, Jabir discovered hydrochloric acid (from salt) and nitric acid (from saltpeter). By combining the two, jabir ibn hayyan invented aqua regia, one of the few substances that can dissolve gold. He is also credited with the discovery of citric acid (the sour component of lemons and other unripe fruits), acetic acid (from vinegar), and tartaric acid (from wine-making residues). The seeds of the modern classification of elements into metals and non-metals could be seen in his chemical nomenclature. He proposed three categories: "spirits" which vaporise on heating, like camphor, arsenic, and ammonium chloride; "metals", like gold, silver, lead, copper, and iron; and "stones" that can be converted into powders. In the Middle Ages, Jabir's treatises on chemistry were translated into Latin and became standard texts for European alchemists. Jabir applied his chemical knowledge to the improvement of many manufacturing processes, such as making steel and other metals, preventing rust, engraving gold, dyeing and waterproofing cloth, tanning leather, and the chemical analysis of pigments and other substances. He developed the use of manganese dioxide in glassmaking, to counteract the green tinge produced by iron - a process that is still used today. He noted that boiling wine released a flammable vapor, thus paving the way to Al-Razi's discovery of ethanol. His works include the Kitab al-Kimya, translated by Robert of Chester (1144); and the Kitab al-Sab'een by Gerard of Cremona (before 1187). Marcelin Berthelot translated some of his books under the fanciful titles Book of the Kingdom, Book of the Balances, and Book of Eastern Mercury. Several technical terms introduced by Jabir, such as alkali, have found their way into various European languages and have become part of scientific vocabulary. During the mid-tenth century, Abu Abd Allah al- Khwarazmi created an encyclopedia of technical terms, Keys of the Sciences (Mafatih al-ulum). He describes alchemy in three parts. The first part describes the apparatus, the second is devoted to substances, and the third deals with the processing of substances. Ibn Sina (980-1037), a prolific writer from Bukhara, revisited basic Aristotelean principles regarding the terrestrial origins of metals and minerals in his book, Kitab al-Shifa (Book of Healing). He did not believe alchemists could transform substances from one metal into another. Instead, alchemists could only produce thoughtful imitations, such as by decorating alloys with a sheen of gold or silver. Scholarly texts regarding the significance of alchemy and chemistry reflected its importance. For Ibn Sina, the theoretical basis of ancient Eastern medicine lay in the doctrine of mizaj, or mixed nature of substances, including medicines, which reflected properties of heat, coldness, dryness, and wetness. Although rooted in antiquity, the transformation and evolution of alchemy has led to a more thorough understanding of modern chemistry, pharmacology, and pharmaceutics in contemporary society. Abu Nasr Mohammad al-Farabi (d. 950), wrote a treatise, On the Need for the Art of Chemistry (Risala fi Wujub sina at al-kimiya). Moreover, Ibn Sina’s al-Qanun fi ‘l-tibb (The Canon of Medicine), translated into Latin in the 12th century, is an encyclopedic work that played an essential role in the development of European and Eastern medicine.  islamic medicine After the fierce fight between Umayyads and Abbasids, the islamic caliphate was transferred from Damascus to Baghdad in 762. Meanwhile, the conflict between monotheistic religions (Christianity, islam) and Manicheism flarred one more time. Manicheism had many adherents in iraq and iran. it is a faith based on the notion that the whole universe is the battleground between the almost equally strong powers of good and evil. The Muslim rulers found strong support in the Aristotelian philosophy, who defined evil not as a force by itself, but merely the absence of goodness. in the Muslim opposition to manicheism, Hellenistic philosophy proved useful. Greek texts, formerly translated into Syriac, were first translated into Persian in the Sassanid period. Beginning in the Umayyad reign, intensified in the Abbasid period, texts on logic, philosophy, medicine, law and political theory were translated into arabic. This is how islamic medicine became dominated by Ancient greek medicine, and this is why today, it is mostly called «greco-islamic medicine». Once this Greek heritage and knowledge was translated into Arabic, it became universal and replaced most of the older traditions. Greek, Persian, Arab and Indian scholars refined the assimilated ideas, and by the 12th century slow progress was made toward understanding the organic causes of disease. The translation movement lasted for almost two hundred years, till 10th century. The movement started in Damascus in Umayyad times and flourished in Abbasid Baghdad (754 AD). All major surviving Greek Syriac Persian and Indian texts were translated, as well as translations from Pahlavi, the court language of Sassanid persia. The Persian physician al- Tabari, who compiled the first medical encylopedia, and his student ibn Zakariya ar Razi, translated and promoted Pahlavi texts into Arabic and Neo-Persian. Classical knowledge in a new language One of the major figures in the translation of medical works in the 9th century was an Assyrian Christian, Hunain ibn Ishaq, who travelled the entire Byzantine Empire collecting Galenic treatises. He translated a total of 129 of Galenic works. He mastered four languages: Arabic, Syriac, Greek and Persian. He was originally from Southern Iraq but he spent his working life in Baghdad, the center of the great ninth-century Greek-into-Arabic/Syriac translation movement. He himself wrote a major tract on eye diseases and a summary of Galenic medicine (circa 850). Throughout the book, Hunayn explains the eye and its anatomy in minute detail; its diseases, their symptoms, their treatments. He discusses the nature of cysts and tumors, and the swelling they cause. He discusses how to treat various corneal ulcers through surgery, and the therapy involved in repairing cataracts. “Ten Treatises on Ophthalmology” demonstrates the skills Hunayn ibn Ishaq had not just as a translator and a physician, but also as a surgeon.  Correction of Galen In the tenth to thirteenth centuries, medical writing in Arabic proliferated. in the 10th century, Muhammed Ibn Zakarriya Ar-Razi (Rhazes) wrote extensively on neuroanatomy. He wrote an in-depth treatise on the venous system, accurately describing the function of the veins and their valves. Ibn an-Nafs and Ibn al-Quff (13th century) provided full documentation about how the blood circulates and correctly described the physiology of the heart and the function of its valves. Ibn al-Quff and Ibn an-Nafs also gave perfect descriptions of the diseases of circulation. Galen’s View of Blood Circulation-Based on False Ideas Galen said that blood in the veins always carried blood away from the heart. Blood ebbed and flowed like tides, and had autonomous movement. Galen taught that the liver manufactured new blood to replace the old. Blood surging through the heart caused it to beat. He had no ideas that the heart itself pumped blood. Based on practical experience and careful observation, Muslim physicians were the first to criticize ancient medical theories and practices. Ar-Razi devoted an entire book as a critique of Galen's anatomy.  Surgery techniques Cordoba's illustrious surgeon, az-Zahrawi (d. 1013), began ligating arteries with fine sutures.He perfected the use of Catgut, that is suture made from animal intestines. Additionally, he instituted the use of cotton plus wax to plug bleeding wounds. He is best known for his early, original innovations in surgery and his famous medical encyclopedia «al-Tasrif». This work consists of thirty volumes (1,500 pages) covering different aspects of medical science. The main parts are the three that concern surgery, in which surgical treatments are described which he performed himself, like cauterization, removal of bladder stones, obstetrics and throat, nose and ear surgery in detail. Al Zahrawi accurately documented the pathology of hydrocephalus and several congenital diseases (birth defects due to environmental or genetic factors). He also optimized several delicate surgical techniques, such as the removal of a dead fetus and amputations. Another specialty of al Zahrawi was dentistry. His book contains several sketches of the tools and descriptions of various important treatments such as apexresection (the removal of an infected root tip) and dental regulation. He has developed the manufacturing of artificial teeth to replace bad teeth. Anesthesia and antisepsis Muslim physicians used a variety of specific substances to destroy microbes. They applied sulfur topically specifically to kill the scabies mite. Ar Razi (10th century) used mercurial compounds as topical antiseptics. Az Zahrawi and Ibn Zuhr performed hundreds of surgeries under inhalation anesthesia with the use of narcotic-soaked sponges which were placed over the face. Muslim physicians introduced the anesthetic value of opium derivatives during the Middle Ages. Opium was originally used as an anesthetic agent already by the Hittites and the Ancient Egyptians. **As early as the 10th century, Muslim physicians and surgeons were applying purified alcohol to wounds as an antiseptic agent. Surgeons in islamic Spain utilized special methods for maintaining antisepsis prior to and during surgery. ***Numerous Muslim chemists produced medicinal-grade alcohol through distillation as early as the 10th century and manufactured on a large scale the first distillation devices for use in chemistry. They used alcohol as a solvent and antiseptic. In 1465, Serafeddin Sabuncuoglu wrote the earliest surgical book in Turkish, the “Cerrahiye- i İlhaniye”. Sabuncuoğlu practiced in the Amasya hospital for 14 years. His book is mostly a translation of Abu Kasim Az-Zahrawi’s “Textbook on Surgery”, but also includes original material, especially on pediatric surgery.  Pharmacy Muslim physicians used not only herbal remedies, but a variety of minerals to destroy microbes and to strengthen the effects of specific drugs. During the 14th century Ibn Baytar wrote a monumental pharmacopeia listing some 1400 different drugs. Ar-Razi, Ibn Sina, al-Kindi, Ibn Rushd, az-Zahrawi, Ibn Zuhr, Al Masudi, Al-Ghafiqi, Ibn Baytar, Ibn al-Jazzar, Ibn Juljul, Ibn al- Quff, Ibn an-Nafs, al-Biruni, Ibn Sahl mastered the science of drug therapy for the treatment of specific symptoms and diseases. In botany, Spanish Muslims made the greatest contribution. They were keen observers and discovered sexual difference in specific plants such as palms and hemps. They roamed about on sea shores, on mountains and in distant lands in quest of rare botanical herbs. They classified plants into those that grow from seeds, those that grow from cuttings and those that grow of their own accord, i.e., wild growth. The Spanish Muslims advanced in botany far beyond the state in which it had been left by Dioscorides and expanded the herbology of the Greeks by the addition of 2,000 plants. Regular botanical gardens existed in Cordova, Baghdad, Cairo and Fez for teaching and experimental purposes. Some of these were the finest in the world.  The Assyrians and Persian medicine Ismā‘īl ibn Ḥasan Jurjānī (circa 1042–circa 1136, also seen as Jorjānī and Gurjānī), known popularly as Hakim Jurjānī, was among the most famous physicians of 12th-century Iran. Jurjānī's medical encyclopedia, Zakhīrah-i Khvārazm’Shāhī (The treasure of Khvarazm’Shah) was the first major medical book written in Persian, and it soon became a primary resource for Iranian physicians, used for many centuries. It also was translated into Hebrew, Urdu, and Turkish. similar to Avicenna’s Canon. In current medical terminology, the ten parts discuss the following topics: (1) anatomy, physiology and knowing temperaments, humors, and elements; (2) general pathophysiology (including a chapter describing the kinds of pulses and a chapter on causes of death); (3) hygiene and nutrition (including separate chapters on diseases of childhood, of age, and especially diseases contracted while traveling); (4) diagnoses and prognoses; (5) fever and its classification; (6) treatments (the volume of the encyclopedia most sought after by physicians of the period); (7) infectious diseases; (8) skin diseases; (9) toxicology; and (10) pharmacology. The source of Medieval Iranian medical knowledge: Nestorians Nestorians are the sect of followers of Nestorius who deny the holy union and maintain the existence of two persons in Christ; the man Jesus and the divine Son of God, rather than as one divine person, unified, with two natures. Hence Nestorianism has been considered heretical by most Western and Orthodox churches. Nestorius (c. 386–451) was Archbishop of Constantinople and his view of Christ led to the Nestorian schism, separating the Assyrian Church of the East from the Byzantine Church. «Greek science and Greek culture were transmitted through the schools of Edessa and Gondi-Sapor, in the translations from the Greek into Syriac or Aramaic, and from the Syriac into Arabic, by the rather small, unorthodox Christian sect of Nestorians who run the Mesopotamian medical schools during the third to the seventh centuries of the Christian era.» «ROLE OF THE NESTORiANS AS THE CONNECTING LINK BETWEEN GREEK AND ARABIC MEDICINE» ALLEN 0. WHIPPLE The School of Edessa, Nisibis, Harran and the Assyrians The Assyrians ruled over the Middle East until 612 BC. During the first and second centuries AD, Assyrian communities lived in Northern Mesopotamia. the city of Edessa was their capital. After the crucifixion of jesus, the bulk of the Assyrian population converted to Christianity in 33 AD. it was the Apostle Thomas, with Thaddeus and Bartholomew who came to the Assyrian city of Edessa and founded the Assyrian Church of the East, the first and oldest church in the world. The Assyrian communities are the first people to officially convert to Christianity. they founded the first monastery complexes in the Middle East. Those monasteries became centers of learning in matters of theology, medicine and philosophy. Assyrian monks established a great school in Edessa. established in 363-364 ad, in this school theology was the major subject, but medicine was growing as a study, and rapidly coming to the fore due to the attention it attracted. Affiliated with the school, a large hospital was built for care of the public. In the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries Assyrians had already began a systematic translation of the Greek body of knowledge into Assyrian. At first they concentrated on the religious works but then quickly moved to science, philosophy and medicine. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen, and many others were translated into Assyrian, and from Assyrian into Persian and later, into Arabic. it is these Arabic translations which the Moors brought with them into Spain, and which the Spaniards translated into Latin and spread throughout Europe, thus igniting the European renaissance. In a.d. 489, the Byzantine emperor Zeno ordered the closing down of the assyrian theological and scientific center in Edessa. The monks transferred and absorbed the school in edessa to the School of Nisibis, also known as Nisibīn (Nusaybin), then under Persian rule. Here, monks and scholars, together with hellenistic philosophers banished from Athens and Constantinopolis by Justinian in 529, carried out important research in medicine, astronomy, and mathematics. The Sassanids had long battled the Romans and Byzantines for control of present Iraq and Syria, and were naturally disposed to welcome the refugees. During the reign of the Sassanid emperor Khosrau I. (a.d. 531-579), refuge was granted to various Greek philosophers and Syriac-speaking Christians fleeing religious persecution by the Byzantine empire. The Nestorians first settled their school in the ancient Sabiite city of Harran, which was then in Sassanid hands. Emperor Khosrau I commissioned the refugees to translate Greek and Syriac texts into Pahlavi. They translated various works on medicine, astronomy, philosophy, and useful crafts. Khosrau I also turned towards the east, and sent the physician Borzouye to invite Indian and Chinese scholars. These visitors translated Indian texts on astronomy, astrology, mathematics and medicine and Chinese texts on herbal medicine and religion. Borzouye is said to have himself translated the Pañcatantra from Sanskrit into Persian as Kalila u Dimana. Many Assyrian scholars who accepted the asylum status offered by the Sassanian king migrated to Gondishapor in southwest Persia, an established See for a Nestorian bishop. They brought with them Syriac translations of the Greek medical works of Hippocrates, Galen and Aristole. Thus the first Persian medical school was established under their inspiration and management.  This school was established to methodically care for the sick and ill, while simultaneously training the students of medicine by hiring physicians and scholars from Greece and India. Gondishapour University was also famed for teaching algebra. One of the innovations here was the modification of Indian Sanskrit numeric system which later entered the Arab world and finally reached Europe. The greatest impetus to the school was given by king Nushirwan the just. He gave the teachers every advantage and encouragement and increased the prestige of the school by welcoming the Greek neo- platonists from the school of Athens when it was closed. During his reign, Gondishapor became the greatest intellectual center of the time. Within its walls, Greek, Nestorian, Zoroastrian and Hindu medical knowledge and experience were freely exchanged. Besides systemizing medical treatment and knowledge, the scholars of the academy also transformed medical education. Rather than apprenticing with just one physician, medical students were required to work in the hospital under the supervision of the whole medical faculty. There is even evidence that graduates had to pass exams in order to practice as accredited Gundishapur physicians. Opposite to the school a famous hospital was built, Bimaristan, a Persian name used subsequently for all the great hospitals in Baghdad, Damascus, and Cairo. Gundishapur hospital became the most important medical center during the 6th and 7th centuries. «to a very large extent, the credit for the whole hospital system must be given to Persia.» — Cyril Elgood, A Medical History of Persia Baghdad, a suburb of Ctesiphon was built in 762 by al-Mansur. The Royal library at Baghdad was based on the Sassanian model and was also called the house of knowledge, Bayt al-Hikmat, just like its Sassanid predecessor. Baghdad itself became home to the Alexandrian and Persian medical traditions and thought. The ‘Adudi’ hospital was built under the instructions of the great iranian Physician Razi (Latin Rhazes, he was from Ray) and resembled the great hospital in Gondeshapur. Like their Greek predecessors, the new genre of physicians produced Encyclopedias of medical knowledge based on observation and experience. The main topics included anatomy, classification and causation of disease, symptoms and diagnosis. Urine, sputum (mucus from lower airways), saliva and pulse were observed and used to aid diagnosis. External or visible manifestations of disease and internal symptoms like fever, headache etc were listed and studied. Hygiene was observed. dietetics, cosmetics, therapy with drugs and herbs were used to improve the patient’s conditions. The celebrated Iranian physician and philosopher Abu ‘Ali al-Husayn ibn Sina (980-1037), derives his mastery from this tradition. Ibn Sina is arguably the most influential philosopher of the pre-modern era. Born in Afshana near Bukhara in Central Asia in about 980, he is best known as a polymath, a scholar contributing to a multitude of disciplines such as mathematics, natural sciences, musical theory and law. Ibn Sina wrote 100 books in many subjects including his most famous compendium, Canon of Medicine. His magnum opus, «al-Qanun fi al-Tibb» became the major textbook in both western and eastern medical schools, until the early modern era. He extensively studied herbal medicine from China, india and Persia. He was, like his predecessor Farabi (another well known Iranian) was an outspoken empiricist and insisted that all theories must be confirmed by experience. The Canon has been accurately described as a “monumental unity,” and “the clear and ordered "summa" of all the medical knowledge of ibn Sīnā’s time”. It is organized into five books. Book 1 (the Kollīyāt) covers the basic principles of medicine, and is in four parts. Part 1 discusses the constitution of the body (What is it made of? The four elements: earth, water, air, and fire, and the four humors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile, whose mixture determines the temperament of every individual); the anatomy of uniform parts (the bones, muscles, nerves, veins, and arteries); and general physiology (How does the body function?). Part 2 deals with the causes and symptoms of disease. Part 3 is devoted to preventive medicine (ḥefż al-ṣeḥḥa “the maintenance of health”), principally through disciplined living and diet. Part 4 deals with the treatment of disease, again with emphasis on regimen and diet, and on medicines only when these fail. ibn sina devoted two of the Canon’s five books to medicines: Book 2 comprises the Materia Medica, which lists about 800 individual drugs, mostly of vegetable origin (but with many animal and mineral substances); and book 5 (the Formulary), which contains some 650 compounded prescriptions— theriacs, electuaries, potions, syrups, etc. The diseases of particular organs, starting from the head and moving down to the toes, are systematically discussed in book 3. Book 4 deals with medical conditions that affect the body as a whole (fevers, poisons) or that could happen to any part of it (wounds, fractures). It concludes with a treatise on personal hygiene, emphasizing care of the hair, skin, nails, body odor, and the treatment of overweight or underweight persons. how did it come to end? The Mongol invasions of the early 13th century devastated the eastern half of the islamic world. Civil war and Christian military force (the Crusades) pressed hard on the islamic communities of Spain and North Africa. The openness to Hellenism and ancient knowledge from Egypt, Mesopotamia, india and the Far East, as prevalent in 9th-13th century Baghdad, Damascus and the Seljukid capital of Konya was gradually replaced by a more fundamentalist islam. Even so, medicine in 13th century Cordoba or Cairo had reached a higher level of sophistication and effectiveness than anywhere in the world. The only example was Constantinople. While Byzantium shrank to its capital, the city became the focus of traditional medicine. Constantinople remains the western capital of practical medicine The Byzantine empire had hospitals in the modern sense, such as Pantokrator, founded in 1136. In the Pantakrator hospital, specialists gave steady care to more than 50 inlaid patients and an outpatients dispensary. The hospital had a staff of 4 lay doctors, 5 pharmacists a specialist for hernia surgery, 2 specialists for the care of surgical instruments and a leper house. (Cambridge illustrated history of medicine, p.70) Some of the Most important physicians Abu-bakr Elrazi; 9th Century Great clinician and experimentalist. Father of pediatrics and researcher in ophthalmology Many books describing disease and therapy, including “Smallpox and Measles” Ibn-Elhaytham: 10th Century Multidisciplinary scientist. Ophthalmologist Mechanism of sight. Function of the eye Over 100 books in Medicine and Mathemathics Ibn-Sina (Avicenna): 10th Century The “Qannun”, the medical text book in Europe till 19th Cen. Described the medical use of over 2700 plants Stated for the first time that light has a finite speed, which is much faster than the speed of sound Ibn-Rushd (Aviros): 13th Century Philosopher and Physician with an expertise on zoology. Wrote on scientific research methods. Ibn-Elnafs: Blood circulation and the role of lungs. Abulkassim Alzahrawi (Abulcasis or Albucasis): 11th Century One of the greatest surgeons. A good dentist and GP. Removal of breast cancer. Hemophilia and its hereditary transmission (female to male)