Further reading

• Aronson, Jeffrey K. (2008). Meyler's Side Effects of Herbal Medicines. Elsevier. ISBN 9780080932903. http://books.google.com/books?id=_hkSTiEsKvkC.

• Braun, Lesley & Cohen, Marc (2007)). Herbs and Natural Supplements: An Evidence-Based Guide. Elsevier. ISBN 9780729537964.

• Crellin, J.K. et al (1990). Herbal Medicine Past and Present: A reference guide to medicinal plants. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822310198. http://books.google.com/books?id=0JaqB07uTx4C.

• Lewis, Walter H. (2003). Medical Botany: Plants Affecting Human Health. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780471628828. http://books.google.com/books?id=ipQmSriMF9sC.

• Lindequist, U.; Niedermeyer, T.H.J. ; Jülich, W.D. (2005). "The Pharmacological Potential of Mushrooms". Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2 (3): 285–99. doi:10.1093/ecam/neh107. PMC 1193547. PMID 16136207. http://ecam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/2/3/285.

• Newall, Carol A. et al (1996). Herbal medicines: a guide for health-care professionals. Pharmaceutical Press. ISBN 9780853692898. http://books.google.com/books?id=n_psAAAAMAAJ.

History of pharmacy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Doctor and pharmacist, illustration from Medicinarius (1505) by Hieronymus Brunschwig.

The history of pharmacy as an independent science is quite old. The origins of historiography pharmaceutical back to the first third of the 19th century which is when the first historiographies that while not touching all aspects of pharmaceutical history is the starting point for the final start of this science.

Until the birth of pharmacy as an independent science, there is a historical evolution from antiquity to the present day that marks the course of this science, always connected to the medicine.

Prehistoric pharmacy

Paleopharmacological studies attest to the use of medicinal plants in pre-history.^[1]

The earliest known compilation of medicinal substances was the Sushruta Samhita, an Indian Ayurvedic treatise attributed to Sushruta in the 6th century BC. However, the earliest text as preserved dates to the 3rd or 4th century AD. India has a great history of medicine and patient care. Great Indian philosophers who did remarkable service to the world by writing medical books are Sushrutha muni (Sushrutha Sanhitha),Charaka Muni(Charaka Sanhitha),Sharngadara Muni(Sharngadara Sanhitha). Those 2 books are the pioneering books of Ancient Indian Ayurvedic knowledge.

Many Sumerian (late 6th millennium BC - early 2nd millennium BC) cuneiform clay tablets record prescriptions for medicine.^[2]

Antiquity

Ancient Egyptian pharmacological knowledge was recorded in various papyri such as the Ebers Papyrus of 1550 BC, and the Edwin Smith Papyrus of the 16th century BC.

The earliest known Chinese manual on materia medica is the Shennong Bencao Jing (The Divine Farmer's Herb-Root Classic), dating back to the 1st century AD. It was compiled during the Han dynasty and was attributed to the mythical Shennong. Earlier literature included lists of prescriptions for specific ailments, exemplified by a manuscript "Recipes for 52 Ailments", found in the Mawangdui tomb, sealed in 168 BC. Further details on Chinese pharmacy can be found in the Pharmacy in China article.

Dioscorides, De Materia Medica, Byzantium, 15th century

In Ancient Greece, according to Edward Kremers and Glenn Sonnedecker, "before, during and after the time of Hippocrates there was a group of experts in medicinal plants. Probably the most important representative of these rhizotomoi was Diocles of Carystus (4th century BC). He is considered to be the source for all Greek pharmacotherapeutic treatises between the time of Theophrastus and Dioscorides."^[3] The Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides is famous for writing a five volume book in his native Greek Περί ύλης ιατρικής in the 1st century AD. The Latin translation De Materia Medica (Concerning medical substances) was used a basis for many medieval texts, and was built upon by many middle eastern scientists during the Islamic Golden Age. The title coined the term materia medica.

In Japan, at the end of the Asuka period (538-710) and the early Nara period (710-794), the men who fulfilled roles similar to those of modern pharmacists were highly respected. The place of pharmacists in society was expressly defined in the Taihō Code (701) and re-stated in the Yōrō Code (718). Ranked positions in the pre-Heian Imperial court were established; and this organizational structure remained largely intact until the Meiji Restoration (1868). In this highly stable hierarchy, the pharmacists—and even pharmacist assistants—were assigned status superior to all others in health-related fields such as physicians and acupuncturists. In the Imperial household, the pharmacist was even ranked above the two personal physicians of the Emperor.^[4]

There is a stone sign for a pharmacy with a tripod, a mortar, and a pestle opposite one for a doctor in the Arcadian Way in Ephesus near Kusadasi in Turkey.^{[citation needed]}