Pedanius Dioscorides | |
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![]() Dioscorides receives a mandrake root, an illumination from the 6th century (c. 512) Greek Juliana Anicia Codex | |
Born | c. 40 AD[1] |
Died | c. 90 AD |
Other names | Dioscurides |
Occupation(s) | Army physician, pharmacologist, botanist |
Known for | De Materia Medica |
Pedanius Dioscorides (Greek: Πεδάνιος Διοσκουρίδης, Pedánios Dioskourídēs; c. 40–90 AD), "the father of pharmacognosy", was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of De materia medica (Περὶ ὕλης ἰατρικῆς, On Medical Material), a 5-volume Greek encyclopedia about herbal medicine and related medicinal substances (a pharmacopeia), that was widely read for more than 1,500 years. For almost two millennia Dioscorides was regarded as the most prominent writer on plants and plant drugs.[2][3]