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( The Canon of Medicine)
The Canon of Medicine (original title in Arabic ??????? ?? ???? "Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb" which translates to The Law of Medicine) is a 14-volume Arabic medical encyclopedia written by the Persian Muslim scientist and physician Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and completed in 1025.[1] Written in Arabic, the book was based on a combination of his own personal experience, medieval Islamic medicine, the writings of the Greek physician Galen,[2] the Indian physicians Sushruta and Charaka, and ancient Arabian and Persian medicine.[3] The Canon is considered one of the most famous books in the history of medicine. Also known as the Qanun, which means "law" in Arabic and Persian, the Canon of Medicine remained a medical authority up until the 18th century[4] and early 19th century.[5] It set the standards for medicine in Europe and the Islamic world, and is Avicenna's most renowned written work. Qanun was used at many medical schools—at University of Montpellier, France, as late as 1650.[6] The principles of medicine described by him ten centuries ago in this book, are still taught at UCLA and Yale University, among others, as part of the history of medicine. Among other things, the book is known for the introduction of systematic experimentation and quantification into the study of physiology,[7] the discovery of the contagious nature of infectious diseases,[8] the introduction of quarantine to limit the spread of contagious diseases, and the introduction of evidence-based medicine, experimental medicine,[9] clinical trials,[10] randomized controlled trials,[11][12] efficacy tests,[13][14] clinical pharmacology,[15] neuropsychiatry,[16] physiological psychology,[17] risk factor analysis, and the idea of a syndrome in the diagnosis of specific diseases.[18] "One of the most famous exponents of Muslim universalism and an eminent figure in Islamic learning was Ibn Sina, known in the West as Avicenna (981-1037). For a thousand years he has retained his original renown as one of the greatest thinkers and medical scholars in history. His most important medical works are the Qanun (Canon) and a treatise on Cardiac drugs. The 'Qanun fi-l-Tibb' is an immense encyclopedia of medicine. It contains some of the most illuminating thoughts pertaining to distinction of mediastinitis from pleurisy; contagious nature of phthisis; distribution of diseases by water and soil; careful description of skin troubles; of sexual diseases and perversions; of nervous ailments."[8]
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