The historian and the doctor: George Sarton and Hippocratic medicine as a scientific model

Abstract

In the initial period of institutionalization of History of Science, the prominent promoter George Sarton presented a vision of Greek medicine as practiced by Hippocrates’ School as pioneering the formation of scientific spirit, and as a model for the empirical sciences that would develop under the banner of reason. A summary sketch of Sarton’s work is presented, and how he applied it to the so-called Hippocratic writings. It is not the intention here to examine the works attributed to Hippocrates themselves, his predecessors or followers, but to underline some of the aspects raised by Sarton on this subject, and their context. This, however, does not preclude asking the question of what could be the possible present relevance of the foundations of this old medical technique, considered under the light of Sarton’s approach.