Medicine has accompanied human history since its very origins and, unlike any other discipline, it grapples with matters of life and death. Today, understanding the evolution of medicine and life sciences, as well as the features that make them unique, is all the more important as these disciplines are undergoing major transformations.

History of Life Sciences and Medicine 1 offers a new and updated perspective on medicine in the Greco-Roman world, putting Western medical traditions and approaches into perspective and comparing them with those of other cultures: China, India, Egypt, Mesopotamia, as well as the legacy passed down by the Arab world. It also explores the fields most directly connected to medicine, such as the study of animals and plants.

This book traces the historical journey from the origins of medicine to Hippocrates – considered the father of medicine – and further on to the fundamental contributions of Hellenistic medicine, up to Galen and Late Antiquity. It examines major discoveries in anatomy, nosology, physiology and therapeutics, as well as the organization of medical practice and associated institutions.

This cross-disciplinary and contextualized approach also provides a better understanding of the complexity of the very concept of disease, the role of the physician, and the doctor-patient relationship, as well as the influence of the societal context on the practice of medicine.

Lorenzo Perilli is Professor of Classical Philology at the Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata, Italy, and Director of the Research Center on Antiquity, Mathematics and Philosophy "Forms of Knowledge in the Ancient World." He is also Head of the Department of Literature, Philosophy and Art History. His research focuses on ancient medicine and science, textual criticism, pre-Socratic philosophy, the digital environment and AI.