towards the model of the human body, some of galen's theories were incorrect. this caused his model to suffer greatly from stasis and intellectual stagnation. greek and roman taboos caused dissection of the human body to usually be banned in ancient times, but in the middle ages it changed. in 1523 galen's on the natural faculties was published in london. in the 1530s belgian anatomist and physician andreas vesalius launched a project to translate many of galen's greek texts into latin. vesalius's most famous work, de humani corporis fabrica was greatly influenced by galenic writing and form. hippocrates (c. 460 - 370 bce). known as the "father of medicine". galen (129 - 216 ce). known for their wide insights into anatomy. herophilus and erasistratusthe plinthios brochos as described by greek physician heraklas, a sling for binding a fractured jaw. these writings were preserved in one of oribasius' collections. two great alexandrians laid the foundations for the scientific study of anatomy and physiology, herophilus of chalcedon and erasistratus of ceos. other alexandrian surgeons gave us ligature (hemostasis), lithotomy, hernia operations, ophthalmic surgery, plastic surgery, methods of reduction of dislocations and fractures, tracheotomy, and mandrake as an anaesthetic. some of what we know of them comes from celsus and galen of pergamum. herophilus of chalcedon, the renowned alexandrian physician, was one of the pioneers of human anatomy. though his knowledge of the anatomical structure of the human body was vast, he specialized in the aspects of neural anatomy. thus, his experimentation was centered around the anatomical composition of the blood-vascular system and the pulsations that can be analyzed from the system. furthermore, the surgical experimentation he administered caused him to become very prominent throughout the field of medicine, as he was one of the first physicians to initiate the exploration and dissection of the human body. the banned practice of human dissection was lifted during his time within the scholastic community. this brief moment in the history of greek medicine allowed him to further study the brain, which he believed was the core of the nervous system. he also distinguished between veins and arteries, noting that the latter pulse and the former do not. thus, while working at the medical school of alexandria, herophilus placed intelligence in the brain based on his surgical exploration of the body, and he connected the nervous system to motion and sensation. in addition, he and his contemporary, erasistratus of chios, continued to research the role of veins and nerves. after conducting extensive research, the two alexandrians mapped out the course of the veins and nerves across the human body. erasistratus connected the increased complexity of the surface of the human brain compared to other animals to its superior intelligence. he sometimes employed experiments to further his research, at one time repeatedly weighing a caged bird, and noting its weight loss between feeding times. in erasistratus' physiology, air enters the body, is then drawn by the lungs into the heart, where it is transformed into vital spirit, and is then pumped by the arteries throughout the body. some of this vital spirit reaches the brain, where it is transformed into animal spirit, which is then distributed by the nerves. ancient roman medicine the romans invented numerous surgical instruments, including the first instruments unique to women, as well as the surgical uses of forceps, scalpels, cautery, cross-bladed scissors, the surgical needle, the sound, and speculas. romans also performed cataract surgery. the roman army physician dioscorides (c. 40–90 ce), was a greek botanist and pharmacologist. he wrote the encyclopedia de materia medica describing over 600 herbal cures, forming an influential pharmacopoeia which was used extensively for the following 1,500 years. early christians in the roman empire incorporated medicine into their theology, ritual practices, and metaphors. post-classical medicine mandrake (written 'μανδραγορα' in greek capitals). naples dioscurides, 7th century places byzantine medicine byzantine medicine encompasses the common medical practices of the byzantine empire from about 400 ce to 1453 ce. byzantine medicine was notable for building upon the knowledge base developed by its greco-roman predecessors. in preserving medical practices from antiquity, byzantine medicine influenced islamic medicine as well as fostering the western rebirth of medicine during the renaissance. byzantine physicians often compiled and standardized medical knowledge into textbooks. their records tended to include both diagnostic explanations and technical drawings. the medical compendium in seven books, written by the leading physician paul of aegina, survived as a particularly thorough source of medical knowledge. this compendium, written in the late seventh century, remained in use as a standard textbook for the following 800 years. late antiquity ushered in a revolution in medical science, and historical records often mention civilian hospitals (although battlefield medicine and wartime triage were recorded well before imperial rome). constantinople stood out as a center of medicine during the middle ages, which was aided by its crossroads location, wealth, and accumulated knowledge. the first ever known example of separating conjoined twins occurred in the byzantine empire in the 10th century. the next example of separating conjoined twins will be first recorded many centuries later in germany in 1689. the byzantine empire's neighbors, the persian sassanid empire, also made their noteworthy contributions mainly with the establishment of the academy of gondeshapur, which was "the most important medical center of the ancient world during the 6th and 7th centuries." in addition, cyril elgood, british physician and a historian of medicine in persia, commented that thanks to medical centers like the academy of gondeshapur, "to a very large extent, the credit for the whole hospital system must be given to persia." islamic medicine sketch representing muslim physician muhammad ibn zakariya al-razi the islamic civilization rose to primacy in medical science as its physicians contributed significantly to the field of medicine, including anatomy, ophthalmology, pharmacology, pharmacy, physiology, and surgery. islamic civilization's contribution to these fields within medicine was a gradual process that took hundreds of years. during the time of the first great muslim dynasty, the umayyad caliphate (661-750 ce), these fields that were in their very early stages of development, and not much progress was made. one reason for the limited advancement in medicine during the umayyad caliphate was the caliphate's focus on expansion after the death of prophet muhammad (632 ce). the focus on expansionism redirected resources from other fields, such as medicine. the priority on these factors led a dense amount of the population to believe that god will provide cures for their illnesses and diseases because of the attention on spirituality. there were also many other areas of interest during that time before there was a rising interest in the field of medicine. abd al-malik ibn marwan, the fifth caliph of the umayyad, developed governmental administration, adopted arabic as the main language, and focused on many other areas. however, this rising interest in islamic medicine grew significantly when the abbasid caliphate (750-1258 ce) overthrew the umayyad caliphate in 750 ce. this change in dynasty from the umayyad caliphate to the abbasid caliphate served as a turning point towards scientific and medical developments. a big contributor to this is because, under abbasid rule, there was a great part of the greek legacy that was transmitted into arabic which by then, was the main language of islamic nations. because of this, many islamic physicians were heavily influenced by the works of greek scholars of alexandria and egypt and were able to further expand on those texts to produce new medical pieces of knowledge. this period of time is also known as the islamic golden age where there was a period of development for development and flourishments of technology, commerce, and sciences including medicine. additionally, during this time the creation of the first islamic hospital in 805 ce by the abbasid caliph harun al-rashid in baghdad was recounted as a glorious event of the golden age. this hospital in baghdad contributed immensely to baghdad's success and also provided educational opportunities for islamic physicians. during the islamic golden age, there were many famous islamic physicians that paved the way for medical advancements and understandings. muhammad ibn zakariya al-razi (965-1040 ce), sometimes referred to as the father of modern optics, is the author of the monumental book of optics and also was known for his work in differentiating smallpox from measles. however, this would not be possible without the influence from many different areas of the world that influenced the arabs.arabic manuscript, anatomy of the eye, by al-mutadibih, 1200 ce the arabs were influenced by ancient indian, persian, greek, roman and byzantine medical practices, and helped them develop further.galen & hippocrates were pre-eminent authorities. the translation of 129 of galen's works into arabic by the nestorian christian hunayn ibn ishaq and his assistants, and in particular galen's insistence on a rational systematic approach to medicine, set the template for islamic medicine, which rapidly spread throughout the arab empire. its most famous physicians included the persian polymaths muhammad ibn zakarīya al-rāzi and avicenna, who wrote more than 40 works on health, medicine, and well-being. taking leads from greece and rome, islamic scholars kept both the art and science of medicine alive and moving forward. persian polymath avicenna has also been called the "father of medicine". he wrote the canon of medicine which became a standard medical text at many medieval european universities, considered one of the most famous books in the history of medicine. the canon of medicine presents an overview of the contemporary medical knowledge of the medieval islamic world, which had been influenced by earlier traditions including greco-roman medicine (particularly galen), persian medicine, chinese medicine and indian medicine. persian physician al-rāzi was one of the first to question the greek theory of humorism, which nevertheless remained influential in both medieval western and medieval islamic medicine. some volumes of al-rāzi's work al-mansuri, namely "on surgery" and "a general book on therapy", became part of the medical curriculum in european universities. additionally, he has been described as a doctor's doctor, the father of pediatrics, and a pioneer of ophthalmology. for example, he was the first to recognize the reaction of the eye's pupil to light. in addition to contributions to humanity's understanding of human anatomy, islamicate scientists and scholars, physicians specifically, played an invaluable role in the development of the modern hospital system, creating the foundations on which more contemporary medical professionals would build models of public health systems in europe and elsewhere. during the time of the safavid empire (16th–18th centuries) in iran and the mughal empire (16th–19th centuries) in india, muslim scholars radically transformed the institution of the hospital, creating an environment in which rapidly developing medical knowledge of the time could be passed among students and teachers from a wide range of cultures. there were two main schools of thought with patient care at the time. these included humoral physiology from the persians and ayurvedic practice. after these theories were translated from sanskrit to persian and vice-versa, hospitals could have a mix of culture and techniques. this allowed for a sense of collaborative medicine. hospitals became increasingly common during this period as wealthy patrons commonly founded them. many features that are still in use today, such as an emphasis on hygiene, a staff fully dedicated to the care of patients, and separation of individual patients from each other were developed in islamicate hospitals long before they came into practice in europe. at the time, the patient care aspects of hospitals in europe had not taken effect. european hospitals were places of religion rather than institutions of science. as was the case with much of the scientific work done by islamicate scholars, many of these novel developments in medical practice were transmitted to european cultures hundreds of years after they had long been used throughout the islamicate world. although islamicate scientists were responsible for discovering much of the knowledge that allows the hospital system to function safely today, european scholars who built on this work still receive the majority of the credit historically. before the development of scientific medical practices in the islamicate empires, medical care was mainly performed by religious figures such as priests. without a profound understanding of how infectious diseases worked and why sickness spread from person to person, these early attempts at caring for the ill and injured often did more harm than good. contrarily, with the development