Al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis)

Known for

Al-Tasrif, a 30-volume medical encyclopedia with an illustrated surgery section

Biography

Andalusian physician and surgeon from Madinat al-Zahra near Córdoba, court physician to the Umayyad caliph al-Hakam II.

Contributions

• Illustrated and described about 200 surgical instruments, many of his own design
• Described the use of catgut for internal stitches
• Wrote on dentistry, bone setting, cauterization and childbirth
• Al-Tasrif's surgical volume was used in Europe in Latin translation for centuries

Major works

• Kitab al-Tasrif