Pedanius Dioscorides

Pedanius Dioscorides (c. 40 – 90 AD) was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of De Materia Medica — a 5-volume Greek encyclopedia about herbal medicine and related medicinal substances (a pharmacopeia), that was widely read for more than 1,500 years. He was employed as a medic in the Roman army.

Life and Career

Dioscorides was born in the city of Anazarbus, located in the Roman province of Cilicia in what is now southern Turkey. He studied medicine and pharmacology in Tarsus, and later served as a surgeon in the Roman army during the reign of the emperor Nero. His travels as a military physician gave him the opportunity to study and collect a vast variety of medicinal plants from all over the Roman and Greek world.

De Materia Medica

De Materia Medica was written between 50 and 70 AD, and it became the precursor to all modern pharmacopeias. In fact, it remained in use until about CE 1600. A central theme of De Materia Medica is the empirical knowledge that Dioscorides brought to the study of medicine, which was a significant departure from the theoretical approach of his contemporaries.

Legacy

Dioscorides' works had a profound influence on the field of pharmacology. His texts were used as a reference by herbalists, pharmacists, and physicians for over a millennium. His emphasis on the empirical knowledge of medicinal substances laid the groundwork for the scientific method in the field of medicine.

See Also

• History of pharmacy
• Herbalism
• Medicinal plants
• Pharmacopeia

External Links

• Pedanius Dioscorides