The place of Ibn al-Nafis in the history of medicine

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The place of Ibn al-Nafis in the history of medicine

by Guest Mon Oct 23, 2017 8:11 am

Ibn al-Nafis (1210-1288) was an Arab physician who contributed much to the advancement of medical knowledge and science in the 13th century. He was involved in jurisprudence, politics, and anatomical studies as well. Although a prominent ophthalmologist by training, today he is most recognized for his discovery of the lesser or pulmonary circulation. His was the first work to contradict the accepted teachings of Galen, which had existed since the 2nd century AD. His description included the observation that the wall of the septum is not porous either grossly or macroscopically as was believed by earlier scholars. Therefore, blood from the venous circulation had to be directed through the pulmonary artery ("venous artery") through the lungs to be "mixed with air" and drained back to the left side of the heart through the pulmonary vein ("arterial vein"). This discovery would lead to a change in the historical observations that the pulmonary circulation was discovered by European scientists in the 16th century and lead many to wonder if these scientists had access to Ibn al-Nafis' translated works. Ibn al-Nafis was devout to his work and to his religion, contributing much to the body of knowledge in anatomy and medicine as well as being a prominent and exceptional physician.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18481505

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His full name was Ala al-Din Abu al-Hassan Ali Ibn Abi-Hazm al-Qarshi al-Dimashqi, and so not surprisingly he is commonly referred to as Ibn al-Nafis (13–15). He was born in Damascus (or very nearby) in 1213 and had his medical education there at the Medical College Hospital (Bimaristan al-Noori). At the age of 23, he moved to Cairo where he first worked at the Al-Nassri Hospital and subsequently at the Al-Mansouri Hospital, where he became physician-in-chief. When he was only 29, he published his most important work, the Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon, which included his ground-breaking views on the pulmonary circulation and heart that are referred to below (1–6, 8 ). He also worked on an enormous textbook, The Comprehensive Book of Medicine. This was never completed but was the largest medical encyclopedia to be attempted at the time and is still consulted by scholars.

Ibn al-Nafis was an orthodox Sunni Muslim and, as mentioned above, wrote extensively in areas outside of medicine, including law, theology, philosophy, sociology, and astronomy. He also authored one of the first Arabic novels translated as Theologus Autodidactus. This is a science-fiction story about a child brought up on an isolated desert island who eventually comes in contact with the outside world.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2612469/

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