Prof. Emilie Savage-Smith '62 Co-Authors Medieval Islamic Medicine

March 24, 2007

March 24, 2007, Greencastle, Ind. - Emilie Savage-Smith, a 1962 DePauw graduate who is professor of the history of Islamic science at the Oriental Institute and a senior research fellow of St. Cross College -- both at the University of Oxford -- has co-authored Medieval Islamic Medicine. The work is a collaboration with Peter E. Pormann, a Wellcome Trust Lecturer in the department of classics and ancient history at the University of Warwick, and is published stateside by Georgetown University Press.

"The medical tradition that developed in the lands of Islam during the medieval period (c. 650-1500) has, like few others, influenced the fates and fortunes of countless human beings," states a synopsis of the book. "It is a story of contact and cultural exchange across countries and creeds, affecting many people from kings to the common crowd. This tradition formed the roots from which modern Western medicine arose. Contrary to the stereotypical picture, medieval Islamic medicine was not simply a conduit for Greek ideas but a venue for innovation and change."

Learn more at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com.

Dr. Savage-Smith's previous books include Medieval Views of the Cosmos; Magic and Divination in Early Islam, Vol. 42; and Leiden Aratea : Ancient Constellations in a Medieval Manuscript.

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