February 2010 Events
PLEASE NOTE: THE FOLLOWING EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED
The Embassy of Greece
Invites you to a Presentation
“Hippocrates’ Legacy in the 21st Century. Revisiting Ancient Greek Medical Knowledge”
by
Alain Touwaide
Historian of Sciences, Smithsonian Institution
Scientific Director, Institute for the Preservation of Medical Traditions
February 18, 6:30 p.m.
At The Embassy of Greece
2217 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008
202-939-1352
RSVP via return e-mail: mourtoupala@greekembassy.org.
Hippocrates’ best known legacy to world medicine is the Oath. It is much more, however: a whole wealth of medical wisdom, and also a vast knowledge acquired during the centuries and faithfully transmitted through generations among the Asclepiads, rigorously screened and synthesized by Hippocrates and his disciples, and recorded for future medical practice.
The formulas for medicines give evidence of the ability of ancient Greek physicians to skillfully use the many natural resources of the rich Mediterranean biodiversity. However recognized it might be, this heritage is now threatened with oblivion, if not disappearance. It lies in old handwritten books to be found in libraries across the world and exposed to the unavoidable deterioration of time. To save this heritage and to make it available for possible new investigations, it is
essential to trace such books, to decipher their texts, and to understand their vital substance.
In this presentation, Alain Touwaide will illustrate the many facets and actuality of the Greek medical heritage. Through an archaeology of ancient medical volumes and their texts, he will follow the odyssey of Greek medical knowledge from the Mediterranean to the West. In so doing, he will bring to light the wisdom painstakingly acquired by ancient Greek physicians and show how relevant Hippocrates’ heritage is for 21st-century science and medicine.
Alain Touwaide is currently a Historian of Sciences at the Smithsonian Institution and the Scientific Director of the Institute for the Preservation of Medical Traditions. Trained as a Classical Philologist and an Ancient and Medieval Historian, he has taught and conducted research worldwide. The recipient of many grants, awards and prizes, he has extensively published on Classical and Byzantine medicine.
If you plan to attend, please do RSVP to Connie Mourtoupalas, the Embassy Cultural Affairs Officer, at: mourtoupala@greekembassy.org.
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