Neurological Concepts in Ancient Greek Medicine
Thomas M Walshe, III
Reviews and Awards
"Dr. Thomas Walshe, using his extensive mastery of classical Greek, has written an exhaustive analysis of references to neurological diseases in ancient Greek literature beginning with Homer's Illiad and Odyssey through the writings attributed to Hippocrates. Walshe provides vibrant, fresh translations and profound analyses of the neurological observations in the Corpus Hippocraticum. His citations demonstrate that Ancient Greek physicians prescribed holistic treatment of neurological diseases through exercise, proper diet and refraining from alcohol, and that seizures or paralysis could occur contralateral to traumatic lesions to the head. This book should be in every medical library, for it is the quintessential source of information about Ancient Greek Neurology." --Edward J. Fine, MD, FAAN, Associate Professor of Neurology, University at Buffalo, Past President of the International Society for the History of the Neurosciences
"In his compelling work, Neurological Concepts in Ancient Greek Medicine, Thomas M. Walshe, an expert neurologist and Greek scholar, weaves together eleven essays into a fascinating story of what the ancient Greeks thought about what we now call Neurology... Every physician will be edified by reading this book. Those interested in the nervous system may have a particular penchant for it, but anyone interested in the perspective of history on modern thought will find this a captivating work." --Martin A. Samuels, MD, DSc(hon), FAAN, MACP, FRCP, FANA, Chair, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Miriam Sydney Joseph Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
"This fascinating work of learning does much to illuminate these complex dilemmas that so mystified the ancient Greek scholars and physicians...the profusion of references to this era will be invaluable to scholars. As Walshe says in his preface, his book is not the story of neurology in Greek Medicine, rather a description of Greek ideas that pertain to our own ideas of neurology." - John M. S. Pearce, Brain