Pedanius Dioscorides
Pedanius Dioscorides (Greek: Πεδάνιος Διοσκορίδης; ca. 40-90 AD)[1], a native of Anazarbus, Cilicia, Asia Minor, was was, according to a recent manual of toxicology,[2]
| “ | ...a Greek physician, pharmacologist and botanist who practiced in Rome at the time of Nero. He was a surgeon with the army of the emperor, so he had the opportunity to travel extensively, seeking medicinal substances (plants and minerals) from all over the Roman and Greek world. | ” |
Dioscorides wrote a five-volume book in his native Greek, Περὶ ὕλης ἰατρικής (Latin: De Materia Medica, English: "Regarding Medical Matters") that is a "precursor to all modern pharmacopeias," and is one of the most influential herbal books in history. In fact, it remained in use until about CE 1600. Unlike many classical authors, his works were not "rediscovered" in the Renaissance, because his book never left circulation. The De Materia Medica was often reproduced in manuscript form through the centuries, often with commentary on Dioscorides' work and with minor additions from Arabic and Indian sources, though there were some advancements in herbal science among the Arabic additions. The most important manuscripts survive today in Mount Athos monasteries.
De Materia Medica is important not just for the history of herbal science: it also gives us a knowledge of the herbs and remedies used by the Greeks, Romans, and other cultures of antiquity. The work also records the Dacian[3] and Thracian[4] names for some plants, which otherwise would have been lost. The work presents about 600 plants in all,[5] although the descriptions are obscurely phrased. Duane Isely notes that "numerous individuals from the Middle Ages on have struggled with the identity of the recondite kinds", and characterizes most of the identifications of Gunther et al. as "educated guesses".
A number of illustrated manuscripts of the De Materia Medica survive, some of them from as early as the 5th through 7th centuries. The most famous of these early copies is the Vienna Dioscurides (512/513 AD).
See also
- Vienna Dioscurides
- List of Dacian plant names
Notes
- ↑ Krebs 2003, p. 75.
- ↑ Borzelleca, Joseph F.; Lane, Richard W. (2008), "The Art, the Science, and the Seduction of Toxicology: an Evolutionary Development", in Hayes, Andrew Wallace, Principles and methods of toxicology (5th ed.), Taylor & Francis Group, p. 13
- ↑ Nutton 2004, p. 177.
- ↑ Murray 1884, p. 68.
- ↑ Krebs 2003, p. 76.
Bibliography
- Dioscorides, Pedanius (1933). Gunther, R.T.. ed. The Greek Herbal of Dioscorides. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Isely, Duane (1994). One hundred and one botanists. Iowa State University Press.
- Krebs, Robert E.; Krebs, Carolyn A. (2003). Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries of the Ancient World. Greenwood Publishing Group.
- Murray, J. (1884). The Academy. Alexander and Shephrard.
- Nutton, Vivian (2004). Ancient Medicine. Routledge.
- Dioscorides, Pedanius (1985). Riddle, John. ed. Dioscorides on Pharmacy and Medicine. University of Texas Press.
- Dioscorides, Pedanius (2005) (in English). De materia medica. Hildesheim: Olms-Wiedmann.
External links
- "Dioscurides Neapolitanus: Codex ex Vindobonensis Graecus 1" (in Italian, Latin). Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli. http://www.bnnonline.it/biblvir/dioscoride/dioscoride.htm. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
- "Medic: Catalogue des textes en ligne: Dioscoride/Dioscodirides, Pedacius" (in French, Latin) (pdf). Bibliothèque interuniversitaire de médecine et d'odontologie (bium), Université Paris Descartes. http://web2.bium.univ-paris5.fr/livanc/?cote=00821&do=chapitre. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
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