Review: On Airs, Waters, and Places

On Airs, Waters, and Places by Hippocrates
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Wisdom from the Father of Medicine!

While reading this treatise I felt disappointment as it appears Hippocrates got a lot of things wrong. In this volume he observed factors that he believed led to residents of one area or another having a tendency to specific types of diseases. For this, I can easily call him a master of observation! But from where I sit about 4000 years later I know medical science has gone in a far different direction. Nevertheless he tried his best to help us understand what he thought led to medical conditions. I am not a doctor and don't have all the facts, so maybe he was right about more things than I can understand.

Though short, this "book" was not an easy read for me. Let's say, the writing didn't exactly flow. At times it seemed like lists of observations about certain cities and their residents. Perhaps it was helpful to medical practitioners of his era. He observed whether cities face the rising sun, what exposure they have to wind, what water quality was like, and the elevation. Toward the end there was an interesting series of sections about the Scythian culture. He also compared Europeans in general to Asians, in general. How helpful this information might be to medical personnel in our time, I don't know, but still the amazing gift he had for observation is what I find most admirable about his writing.

He was apparently the first medical practitioner to reject the idea that diseases are caused by curses from the gods.

I read this book because it was recommended in The Well-Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer. It is the first recommended book in the science section. I appreciate reading texts that may go over my head and as a challenge-to-self decided to give it a try.

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