Galen: On the Properties of Foodstuffs

Full translation together with detailed introduction, commentary and discussion of terminology.

Galen (Author), Owen Powell (Edited and translated by), John Wilkins (Foreword by)

9780521036207, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 31 May 2007

236 pages, 1 table
22.8 x 15 x 0.8 cm, 0.354 kg

'Powell brings to his translation the insights of a modern physician and his commentary is notably enlightening with its medical interpretations'. Bulletin of the History of Medicine

This book presents a translation of and detailed commentary on Galen's De alimentorum facultatibus - his major work on the dynamics and kinetics of various foods. It is thus primarily a physiological treatise rather than a materia medica or a work on pathology. Galen commences with a short section on the epistemology of medicine, with a discussion on the attainment, through apodeixis or demonstration, of scientific truth - a discussion which reveals the Aristotelian roots of his thinking. The text then covers a wide range of foods, both common and exotic. Some, such as cereals, legumes, dairy products and the grape, receive an emphasis that reflects their importance at the time; others are treated more cursorily. Dr Powell, an expert in gastroenterology, discusses Galen's terminology and the background to his views on physiology and pathology in his introduction, while John Wilkins' foreword concentrates on the structural and cultural aspects of the work.

Foreword John Wilkins
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Galen's medical and scientific terminology
Translation
Commentary
Appendix I. List of plants
Appendix II. List of fishes
Ancient sources
References
Index.

Subject Areas: History of medicine [MBX], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]