GENERAL INTRODUCTION

§ 1. GREEK MEDICINE AND "HIPPOCRATES."

Given the hypothesis

We have learned to associate the science of medicine, almost by instinct, with bacteria, chemistry, clinical thermometers, disinfectants, and all the apparatus of modern nursing. If we wish even dimly to appreciate the work of Hippocrates and his predecessors, we must try to break these associations; we must "unthink" the habits of thought that education has made second nature to us. The Greeks knew that there were certain collections of morbid phenomena which they called "diseases." They knew that these diseases typically followed a certain course, that their origins were connected to geographical and atmospheric environments, and that patients, to recover their health, had to modify their daily way of life. Beyond this, they knew—and could know—nothing. They were compelled to fill the gaps in their knowledge by relying on conjecture and hypothesis. In doing so, they obeyed a human instinct which assures us that progress requires using stopgaps when complete and accurate knowledge is unattainable, and that a working hypothesis, even if incorrect, is better than no hypothesis at all. A system or organized scheme is of greater value than chaos. Yet, however healthy such an instinct may be, it has