Pharmacology Using Plants and Herbs Project Page....Introduction....Dioscorides....Hildegard....Gerard....Conclusion  In our current day and age, we are able to run to the pharmacy to pick
up a medicine for almost any illness imaginable. And it's not like
it's hard to find a pharmacy- there's practically one on every street
corner, be it freestanding or in a grocery store. If you have a
headache, you can choose from rows of medicine specifically made to
treat headaches. The same goes for stomach aches, a cold, various
infections, and many other more serious diseases. Some people might
even say we have and use too much medicine, but it has not always been
this way. There have not always been huge pharmaceutical companies
making drugs for the masses. In the old days, medicine had to come
from what you had nearby, and in most cases, that means it came from
herbs and plants. I think it's very interesting to learn about
medicine in the past, because as I've learned since I've started
researching this project, the medicine used in the past is very
different from the medicine we use today. The topic of medicine is
relevant to everyone, because most everyone has taken some kind of
medicine at least once (but probably many more times than that) in
their lives. I have often wondered what plants and herbs were
used as medicine in the past. Along with that train of thought, I also
wondered how various plants and herbs were discovered to be useful for
medicinal purposes. For this web project, I studied one
pharmacologist and two herbalists, from the ancient, medieval, and
early modern time periods, respectively. The ancient episode focuses in on the famed physician and pharmacologist, Pedanius Dioscorides. He wrote De Materia Medica, which is widely considered to be one of the most influential herbals written in history. This episode explores the discoveries and work of Dioscorides. Hildegard of Bingen is the topic of the medieval episode. Hildegard had many talents and professions, one of them as an herbalist. Her work, Physica, is a compilation of recipes and folk-remedies for diseases. Because Hildegard was an Abbess, Physica gives us dependable insight into the practice of medicine in the clergy. This episode surveys several of the remedies Hildegard proposed for various ailments. The final episode, focusing on the early modern time period, is about John Gerard. Gerard was an herbalist and the superintendent of gardens for William Cecil, a powerful member of Queen Elizabeth's court. His position allowed him the ability to acquire and study many exotic plants. This episode examines the famous work, Herball, which is attributed to Gerard. I chose to use a simple prose style of writing to present my episodes. I considered creating characters as a way to tell the information more as a story, and I even considered writing the episodes as journals from Dioscorides, Hildegard, and Gerard. However, I feel like a prose style better allowed me to present both information, opinion, and analysis of the subject at hand. I think all of the episodes are well-connected through the topic of the printed herbals Dioscorides, Hildegard, and Gerard wrote, as well as through the similarity with which each episode has been presented. The main source I referred to while researching for this project was "An Illustrated History of the Herbals" by Frank J. Anderson. This book served as both a primary and secondary source for each episode. Anderson's book is a great source because it covers specific herbals and their authors from the ancient, medieval, and early modern times. The book offers background information, analysis, and direct pictures and quotes from the original herbals themselves. Another primary source I used specifically for the medieval episode is "Hildegard's Healing Plants," which is a translation of her Physica by Bruce W. Hozeski. This book is a perfect primary source because it is a direct translation of Hildegard's original Physica. 1) Anderson, Frank J.. An Illustrated History of the Herbals. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997. 2) Hozeski, Bruce W.. Hildegard's Healing Plants. Boston: Beacon Press, 2001. Image Information: Bellflower. John Gerard, The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes (London, 1597) Weblink: Exhibits Online. Courtesy History of Science Collections, OU Libraries. Web Project by Samantha Aaron Email Me |