Ibn al-Nafis

Known for

First known description of pulmonary (lung) circulation of blood

Biography

Arab physician born near Damascus who became chief physician at the Mansuri hospital in Cairo.

Contributions

• Described blood passing from the right side of the heart through the lungs to the left side, centuries before William Harvey
• Rejected Galen's idea of invisible pores in the heart's wall
• Wrote a very large medical encyclopedia

Major works

• Sharh Tashrih al-Qanun (Commentary on Anatomy in Ibn Sina's Canon)
• Al-Shamil fi al-Tibb