Shajarat al-Tibb (a Tree of Medicine) The History of the Medical Algorithms

Abstract

The studies conducted so far on the history of the clinical algorithm have not noticed to the works of Ahmad Al Hayati Ibn Muhammad al-Qurashi (917 AH- 1511 AD), who, to the best of our knowledge, was the first person who applied multiple branching algorithms (arborization) to medical books, and his book named Shajarat al-Tibb (lit. a tree of medicine) followed the dendritic method (multiple branching algorithms (arborization) in presenting medical information. The book includes brief, yet useful, information, coordinated in a wonderful arrangement of the medical science rules, such as naturals, manuals, symptoms, and treatment arts. Moreover, the book, written at the time of Sultan Beyazid II, was mentioned in the Index of Medical Manuscripts in Turkey. It can be concluded that Ḥayati, Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad was the first medical professor to adopt the use of clinical algorithms. If the translation of his books was available, his research and expertise would be known to more researchers as well.

Keywords

• clinical algorithms
• al-hayati ibn muhammad al-qurashi
• history
• first medical scholar
• trees
• medicine
• books