1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910828654503321

Autore

Galen

Titolo

Galen on the properties of foodstuffs : De alimentorum facultatibus / / introduction, translation, and commentary by Owen Powell ; with a foreword by John Wilkins

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge, : Cambridge University Press, 2003

ISBN

1-107-13287-8

1-280-41963-6

9786610419630

0-511-18088-8

1-139-14798-6

0-511-06462-4

0-511-05829-2

0-511-33109-6

0-511-48289-2

0-511-07308-9

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xxvi, 206 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Altri autori (Persone)

PowellO. W

Disciplina

613.2

Soggetti

Nutrition

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Cover; Half-title; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Foreword; Preface; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Galen's medical and scientific terminology; BOOK I; BOOK II; BOOK III; Commentary; APPENDIX I List of plants with Greek and botanical names; APPENDIX II List of fishes with common names in English and Greek, and Linnaean taxonomies; Ancient sources; References; Index

Sommario/riassunto

This book presents a translation of and detailed commentary on Galen's De alimentorum facultatibus - his major work on the dynamics and kinetics of various foods. It is thus primarily a physiological treatise rather than a materia medica or a work on pathology. Galen commences with a short section on the epistemology of medicine, with a discussion on the attainment, through apodeixis or demonstration, of



scientific truth - a discussion which reveals the Aristotelian roots of his thinking. The text then covers a wide range of foods, both common and exotic. Some, such as cereals, legumes, dairy products and the grape, receive an emphasis that reflects their importance at the time; others are treated more cursorily. Dr Powell, an expert in gastroenterology, discusses Galen's terminology and the background to his views on physiology and pathology in his introduction, while John Wilkins' foreword concentrates on the structural and cultural aspects of the work.