Hippocrates (b. after 460, d. c.379 B.C.E.) regarded in the West as in the Muslim world as "the father of medicine," was a historical figure-his younger contemporary Plato mentions him twice in his dialogues as a well known physician. Little is known about his life. He was born on the Aegean island of Cos and died in Larissa (Thessaly). He belonged to a family of physicians who called themselves Asclepiads. As an itinerant practioner, he travelled throughout Asia Minor, Thrace, and Greece. The writings (in the