Born: Circa 460 B.C., on the island of Cos, Greece
Died: Circa 377 B.C., in Larissa, Thessaly
Hippocrates was a Greek physician who earned a reputation as the father of medicine. However, little is known about him other than the fact that he traveled extensively through Greece and Asia Minor to gather information and teach.
Plato called Hippocrates "the Asclepiad of Cos", a phrase that implies that Hippocrates came from a long line of well-known physicians. Aristotle made statements that refer to Hippocrates as "the Great Physician" who was small in stature. One of Aristotle's students, Meno, discussed Hippocrates' views about the cause of diseases.
A collection of approximately sixty works called The Hippocratic Collection (Corpus Hippocraticum) deal with anatomy, diseases, treatments, and medical ethics. Some of the manuscripts date back to the tenth century A.D. Those who have studied the collection have ascertained that the ideas expressed and the styles of the writing vary enormously throughout the works. It is also believed that the works were written over the course of a century or more. It is therefore doubtful that Hippocrates wrote all the works, but he is generally accepted as a great historical figure whose works shaped the development of medicine.
For his efforts, Hippocrates is associated with the mandatory Hippocratic Oath that is taken by graduating medical students.