Organisation of medicine

The Islamic Authorities placed a lot of value in medicine. Baghdad had a hospital by AD 850 and doctors had to pass medical examinations by AD 931 in order to practice. Hospitals were later developed throughout the Islamic world, with the most famous being those in Damascus and Cairo.

Developments of Galen and Hippocrates theories

Rhazes said that it was vitally important to observe patients and make notes of all minor details. He was the first man to observe and record the differences between smallpox and measles.

Avicenna wrote the Canon of medicine (still used as a reference book today). This developed some of Galen’s ideas and was used with aspiring doctors in both Arabia and later in the West.

Chemistry

Arabian doctors and chemists invented distillation and sublimation. They also developed the use of drugs such as senna, musk and camphor.