Arabic medical treatises of the tenth century explained both endemic and epidemic diseases in environmental terms. Physicians such as Abū Bakr al-Rāzī, al-Majūsī, Muḥammad al-Tamīmī, and al-Masīḥī described various kinds of corruption of air and water, the risks these posed to different populations, and the means by which physicians could protect patients through changes in regimen, household hygiene, and, more rarely, interventions in the surrounding environment. This talk explores how these medical ideas related to the environmental practices of ʿAbbasid cities. Bringing medical treatises into dialogue with chronicles, market manuals, and travel literature, it examines the relationship between theories of disease, physicians’ recommendations, and historical approaches to urban hygiene and health, asking to what extent learned medicine intersected with environmental practice.
Event Speaker
Elaine Van Dalen, Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies at Columbia University
Event Information
Free and open to the public; registration required. Contact [email protected] with any questions.
Hosted by the Center for Science and Society. This event is part of the Faculty Spotlight Event Series. This series highlights the work of Advisory Committee members.
