Important Contributions of Early Muslim Period to Medical Science. I. Basic Sciences
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5915/21-1-5513Keywords:
Muslim scientists, Muslim physicians, pulmonary circulation, basic medical ciencesAbstract
Scientists of the Early Muslim Period contributed greatly to the development of modern medical science. Among their contributions to the basic medical sciences, the contributions of al-Kindī, al-Rāzī, 'Abdul-Laṭīf and Ibn al-Nafīs in anatomy, and those of al-Rāzī, 'Alī ibn 'Abbās, Ibn Sīnā and Ibn al-Nafīs in physiology are noteworthy. 'Abdul-Laṭīf was the first to note that the human lower jawbone is one bone and not joined as was believed by the Greeks. Ibn al-Nafīs was the first to discover the pulmonary circulation, about 300 years before the Europeans were supposed to have discovered it. The contributions in pathology and microbiology were few in the absence of microscopes and cellular pathology, yet the idea of contagiousness of certain diseases, body or natural resistance, allergic reactions, idiosyncracy, conditioned reflex and localization of external senses in the brain were put forward by the scientists of the period.
The Muslim period established the basis of modern pharmacopoeia and introduced a large number of drugs still in use.
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