The Great Influenza

by

John M. Barry

Hippocrates was an ancient Greek doctor who was born in 460 B.C. and who, with his group of followers, was perhaps the first person in recorded history to seek answers about medicine. His ideas were later refined and codified by Galen. He introduced the four humors theory of medicine (the idea that health was controlled by four fluids: blood, phlegm, bile, and black bile). While humoral theory is discredited today, it influenced medicine for centuries, and Hippocrates’ pioneering influence paved the way for future advances.

Hippocrates Quotes in The Great Influenza

The The Great Influenza quotes below are all either spoken by Hippocrates or refer to Hippocrates. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Leadership and Crisis Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

Ultimately, then, logic and observation failed to penetrate the workings of the body not because of the power of the Hippocratic hypothesis, the Hippocratic paradigm. Logic and observation failed because neither one tested the hypothesis rigorously.

Once investigators began to apply something akin to the modern scientific method, the old hypothesis collapsed.

Related Characters: Hippocrates, Galen
Page Number: 24
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Great Influenza LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Great Influenza PDF

Hippocrates Quotes in The Great Influenza

The The Great Influenza quotes below are all either spoken by Hippocrates or refer to Hippocrates. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Leadership and Crisis Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

Ultimately, then, logic and observation failed to penetrate the workings of the body not because of the power of the Hippocratic hypothesis, the Hippocratic paradigm. Logic and observation failed because neither one tested the hypothesis rigorously.

Once investigators began to apply something akin to the modern scientific method, the old hypothesis collapsed.

Related Characters: Hippocrates, Galen
Page Number: 24
Explanation and Analysis: