FORMA FLUENS

Histories of the Microcosm

The Blog of the Body

Forma Fluens (“flowing form”) is a blog dedicated to the history of the body. A metaphor for life itself, as a rhythmic flow that alters the shape and the diachronic identity of the human being, this space is dedicated to any curious person interested in the history of medicine and the body.

Material from the blog is free to consult and use but must be credited as per the title, author, affiliation and sources displayed in each article. For queries or to express an interest in submitting an article for the blog, feel free to contact the centre in the dedicated section. Enjoy and stay tuned: more is always coming!

Claudio Azzarito discusses the characteristics of the “perfect physician” as they emerge from the medical writings of the 12th-century Jewish

By the end of the Middle Ages hospitals, of which there were around 19,000 throughout Europe (13th and 14th centuries),

Some of the plants mentioned by Dioscorides are still used in modern pharmacopoeias. One such plant is the mandrake which

Would you be comfortable with your doctor's uncertainty about whether to suture your wound with silk thread or metallic wire?

The "Kitāb al-Malakī" (or 'Royal Book', KM), written by the Zoroastrian physician ʿAlī ibn al-ʿAbbas al-Maǧūsī is one of the

Bacon believed that the key to extending life lay not in the curricula as taught in the medical faculties of

Bacon believed that the key to extending life lay not in the curricula as taught in the medical faculties of

In the 13th century, ‘embryology’ as a specific branch of biology did not exist, and the study of the configuration