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Chapter 26 - Science and Medicine

from Part III - Spiritual and Intellectual History

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 August 2021

By
Gabriele Ferrario  and
Maud Kozodoy
Edited by
Phillip I. Lieberman
Phillip I. Lieberman
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University, Tennessee
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Summary

In this chapter we describe the medieval sciences as studied, transmitted, and practiced within the different Jewish communities in Islamic lands. We have followed a rough chronological scheme, based on general demographic and cultural shifts. We begin by treating the period up until the tenth century, about which very little is known. In the second and longest section, we examine Jewish scientific activity through the tenth to the end of the twelfth century, first as reflected in direct sources (extant manuscripts preserved in European libraries and the documentary material in the Cairo Genizah) and then in indirect sources (nonscientific writing in which scientific theories appear in passing). After that we turn to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and, finally, treat the fifteenth century on its own.

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Chapter
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The Cambridge History of Judaism , pp. 825 - 863
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

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