Medicine & Its Pioneers in the Islamic Golden Age

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By Kate Rickwa

I am a public health science major on the pre-health track, currently planning to apply to medical school at some point after completing my undergraduate degree. As one could probably guess, Ibn Tufayl’s vivid descriptions of Hayy dissecting the body of the doe and other animals were absolutely fascinating to me, and they were some of the most memorable scenes of the book in my opinion. I was curious to discover what sort of advancements and practices were in place during the Islamic Golden Age, as whenever I was taught scientific history or told about notable names in science, nine times out of ten the scientist was a white man from Europe born sometime between 1700 and 1920. I cannot recall even learning about the Islamic Golden Age in world history, so I think conducting this research even for my own interests is long overdue. For this research excursion, I decided to frame the narratives and focus my discoveries through the biographies of notable polymaths and physicians during the Islamic Golden Age (focusing mainly on physicians before the publication of Hayy Ibn Yaqzan), which also provides a visual of how geographically expansive this era of advancement was.

Works Cited

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Mirzaei, Mohammadreza, and Mehrdad Karimi. “Etiology and Therapeutic Approach to Ascites in Iranian Traditional Medicine: The Avicenna’s Perspective.” Hepatitis Monthly, vol. 18, no. 8.2018.

Modanlou, Houchang D. “Medical Care of Children during the Golden Age of Islamic Medicine.” Archives of Iranian Medicine (AIM), vol. 18, no. 4. 2015.

Ostovar, Mohadeseh, et al. “Female Genital Tract Anomalies Treatment through Surgery in Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine (980-1037 CE).” Journal of Research on History of Medicine, vol. 8, no. 2. 2019

Reza Mohammadinasab, et al. “The Study of the Works and Life of the Ibn Al Jazzar in Islamic Medical History.” Journal of Research on History of Medicine, vol. 9, no. 1.2020.

Shoja, Mohammadali M., and R.Shane Tubbs. “The History of Anatomy in Persia.” Journal of Anatomy, vol. 210, no. 4.2007.