The origins of Western medicine and the ideal of ethical practice, as well as the origin of the scientific method are revealed in these writings by Hippocrates and other medical pioneers.

This book examines the relationship of medicine to those intellectual and social changes which historians call the Renaissance. The contributors describe how the whole range of medicine, from practical therapeutics to surgery, anatomy and pharmacy, was developing. Some important questions about the nature of medicine as it was taught and practised are raised. These include the continuing vigour of Arabic and scholastic medicine, how this was reconciled with the renaissance love of all things Greek and the nature of medicine in different parts of Europe. The chapters are written by acknowledged experts in their subjects and are based on contributions read at a meeting called for the purpose in Cambridge and supported by the Wellcome Trust.