Cordoba
Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi was a physician in tenth-century Cordoba.
Al-Zahrawi's Instruments
Cordoba's surgeon who taught the world surgery — his instruments in twelve cards.
The king's doctor
He was physician to the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Rahman al-Nasir, the greatest doctor of his age.
Al-Tasrif
He wrote the thirty-part encyclopedia al-Tasrif, the last on surgery.
The drawings
He drew over two hundred surgical instruments no one had drawn before.
The scalpel
The scalpel: a fine blade to open the skin — al-Zahrawi described it for surgery.
The forceps
The forceps: grippers for small things inside a wound — one of his lasting tools.
The sutures
He was first to sew wounds with catgut — stitches that dissolve inside the body.
The cautery
Cautery stops bleeding and cleans the wound — a whole chapter in his book.
The stone
He described removing bladder stones in a way that stayed the reference for centuries.
The childbirth
He taught midwives and described difficult births in fine detail.
Europe
Al-Tasrif was translated to Latin and stayed Europe's surgery textbook for five centuries.
Today
Surgery schools call him the father of modern surgery — his tools are still made.
1 / 12
- Cordoba
Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi was a physician in tenth-century Cordoba. - The king's doctor
He was physician to the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Rahman al-Nasir, the greatest doctor of his age. - Al-Tasrif
He wrote the thirty-part encyclopedia al-Tasrif, the last on surgery. - The drawings
He drew over two hundred surgical instruments no one had drawn before. - The scalpel
The scalpel: a fine blade to open the skin — al-Zahrawi described it for surgery. - The forceps
The forceps: grippers for small things inside a wound — one of his lasting tools. - The sutures
He was first to sew wounds with catgut — stitches that dissolve inside the body. - The cautery
Cautery stops bleeding and cleans the wound — a whole chapter in his book. - The stone
He described removing bladder stones in a way that stayed the reference for centuries. - The childbirth
He taught midwives and described difficult births in fine detail. - Europe
Al-Tasrif was translated to Latin and stayed Europe's surgery textbook for five centuries. - Today
Surgery schools call him the father of modern surgery — his tools are still made.