Pedanius Dioscorides
Sign in to savePedanius Dioscorides (, ; 40–90 AD), "the father of pharmacognosy", was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of (in the original , , both meaning "On Medical Material"), a 5-volume Greek encyclopedic pharmacopeia on herbal medicine and related medicinal substances, that was widely read for more than 1,500 years. For almost two millennia Dioscorides was regarded as the most prominent writer on plants and plant drugs.
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Pedanius Dioscorides was a Greek physician and botanist (40–90 AD) who wrote an influential encyclopedia of medicinal plants and herbs that remained the leading reference on the subject for over 1,500 years. His work earned him recognition as "the father of pharmacognosy" because it established him as the most authoritative writer on plant-based medicines for nearly two thousand years.
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Person · Open Library
- Born
- ca. 40
- Died
- ca. 90
- Works
- 106
Top works
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Article
10 sectionsContents
- Life
- ''De materia medica''
- Legacy
- Gallery
- Translations
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Sources
- External links
Pedanius Dioscorides (, ; 40–90 AD), "the father of pharmacognosy", was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of (in the original , , both meaning "On Medical Material"), a 5-volume Greek encyclopedic pharmacopeia on herbal medicine and related medicinal substances, that was widely read for more than 1,500 years. For almost two millennia Dioscorides was regarded as the most prominent writer on plants and plant drugs.
==Life== A native of Anazarbus, Cilicia, Asia Minor, Dioscorides likely studied medicine nearby at the school in Tarsus, which had a pharmacological emphasis, and he dedicated his medical books to Laecanius Arius, a medical practitioner there. Though he writes he lived a "soldier's life" or "soldier-like life", his pharmacopeia refers almost solely to plants found in the Greek-speaking eastern Mediterranean, making it likely that he served in campaigns, or travelled in a civilian capacity, less widely than supposed. The name Pedanius is Roman, suggesting that an aristocrat of that name sponsored him to become a Roman citizen.