Hippocrates of Kos
Father of medicine
Ancient Greek physician (c. 460-370 BCE) from the island of Kos.
Founded the first proper medical school and was the first to argue illness has natural causes, not divine punishment. The Hippocratic Oath, sworn (in varied forms) by doctors for 2,400 years, is named for him — though probably written by a follower. 'First, do no harm' is a paraphrase, not a direct quote.
Famous for
- Hippocratic Oath
- Disease has natural (not divine) causes
- Hippocratic Corpus (~60 medical texts)
- Theory of the four humors
In Rubicon
Hippocrates of Kos is one of the historical characters you can play as in Rubicon, a trivia game where you answer in your own words and an AI judge reads what you meant. Hippocrates of Kos is filed under Human Body & Medicine, and is strongest at Human Body & Medicine.
Others in Human Body & Medicine
- Alexander Fleming — Discovered penicillin
- Galen of Pergamon — Ancient Roman anatomist
- Ibn Sina (Avicenna) — The Canon of Medicine
- Moses Maimonides — Rabbi, philosopher, physician
- Florence Nightingale — Founded modern nursing
- Mary Seacole — Crimean War nurse + entrepreneur