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List of medical textbooks
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This is a list of medical textbooks, manuscripts, and reference works.
Pre-modern texts
Ancient Egypt

- Ramesseum medical papyri (c. 1800 BCE)
- Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus (c. 1800 BCE)
- London Medical Papyrus (c. 1600 BCE)
- Ebers Papyrus (c. 1550 BCE)
- Edwin Smith Papyrus (c. 1500 BCE) - Earliest mention of the brain; the pulse; the role of the heart in circulating blood, but not complete circulation.[1] It is the world's oldest surgical textbook,[2] containing descriptions of the zygomatic bone, dura mater, cerebrospinal fluid, and nasal cavity.[2]
- Brugsch Papyrus (c. 1200 BCE)
Ancient Greece
- Hippocratic Corpus (c. 400 BCE to 200 CE) - Contains many important medical treatises including the Hippocratic Oath.[3] Compared with the Egyptian papyri, the Hippocratic writings exhibit an improved understanding of brain structure and function. It correctly attributed the primary control of the body's function to the brain.[2]
- Galenic corpus (c. 200 BCE)
- De Materia Medica (Dioscorides) (c. 50 CE)
- Medical Compendium in Seven Books (c. 600 CE)
Ancient China
- Huangdi Neijing (c. 300 BCE) - Most authoritative Chinese source on medical matters for over two millennia.[4] It contributed to the Chinese understanding of anatomy,[5] and it continues to be used as an influential reference work for practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine.[6] The book contains many guidelines and recommendations for the prevention of chronic diseases and micronutrient deficiencies such as beriberi, xerophthalmia, and goitre.[7]
- Wushi'er Bingfang (c. 200 BCE)
- Shennong Ben Cao Jing (c. 200 CE)
- Shanghan Lun (c. 220 CE)
- Liu Juanzi Guiyi Fang (C. 499 CE)
- Compendium of Materia Medica (c. 1578 CE)
Ancient India
- Kashyapa Samhita (6th century BCE)
- Sushruta Samhita (c. 300 BCE) - Early description of cataract surgery.[8] The Sushruta Samhita emphasizes the importance of anatomical structure and function,[9] and it contains the earliest written description of the pedicled flaps.[10] It was translated into Arabic during the latter part of the 8th century.[9]
- Bower Manuscript (c. 470-550 CE)[11][12][13]
- Charaka Samhita (c. 300-500 CE) - One of the fundamental texts of Ayurveda medicine, it was translated into Chinese, Arabic, and Tibetan languages.[14]
Roman Empire
Islamic Golden Age
- Kitab al-Taṣrif (c. 1000) - Surgical encyclopedia.[15]
- Book of Optics (c. 1000) - Exerted great influence on Western science.[16] It was translated into Latin and it was used until the early 17th century.[17] The German physician Hermann von Helmholtz reproduced several theories of visual perception that were found in the first Book of Optics, which he cited and copied from.[18]
- The Canon of Medicine (c. 1000) - Described by Sir William Osler as a "medical bible" and "the most famous medical textbook ever written".[19] The Canon of Medicine introduced the concept of a syndrome as an aid to diagnosis, and it laid out an essential framework for a clinical trial.[20] It was translated into Latin by Gerard de Sabloneta and it was used extensively in European medical schools.[20][21] It also became the most authoritative text on anatomy until the 16th century.[22]
- Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon (c. 1200): First description of the pulmonary circulation system,[23] and the first description of the presence and function of coronary circulation.[24]
Medieval Europe

- Compendium Medicinæ ("Compendium of Medicine") (c. 1230-1250)[26][27][28]
- Thesaurus Pauperum ("Treasury of The Poor") (c. 1270)[29][30]
- Rosa Anglica ("The English Rose") (1304-1317)[28][31][32]
- La Chirurgie ("Surgery") (1306-1320)[33]
- Stockholm, Royal Library, manuscript X. 90 (early fifteenth-century). A significant and compendious collection of Middle English medical recipes, charms, and treatises.
- Universa Medicina[34]
Renaissance
- De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem
- Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus
- De pulmonibus obseruationes anatomicae[35]
- Adversaria Anatomica [36]
- De sedibus et causis morborum per anatomen indagatis [37]
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Modern textbooks
Basic sciences
Anatomy
- Gray's Anatomy
- Gray's Anatomy for Students
- Netter - Atlas of Human Anatomy[38]
- Clinically Oriented Anatomy[39]
- Snell's Clinical Anatomy by Regions[40]
- Kenhub Atlas of Human Anatomy[41]

Neuroanatomy
Embryology
Histology
- Netter's Essential Histology
- Histology - A Text and Atlas With Correlated Cell and Molecular Biology[47]
- Junqueira's Basic Histology, Text and Atlas[48]
Neuroscience
- Principles of Neural Science
- Purves' Neuroscience [49]
Pharmacology
Physiology
- Guyton's Textbook of Medical Physiology[53]
- Ganong's Review of Medical Physiology[54]
- Human Physiology: From Cells to Systems[55]
- Berne & Levy Physiology[56]
- Medical Physiology - Boron and Boulpaep[57]
Anaesthesiology
- Practical Management of Pain
- Textbook of Pain - Most comprehensive scientific reference text on pain.[58] The textbook's founding editors were Patrick David Wall and Ronald Melzack, who jointly introduced the gate control theory into the field of pain research.[58]
Clinical examination
Dermatology
- Rook's Textbook of Dermatology[62]
- Fitzpatrick's Dermatology[63]
Emergency medicine
Internal medicine
- Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine
- The Principles and Practice of Medicine
- Davidson's Principles and Practice of Medicine
- Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment
- The Oxford Textbook of Medicine
- Cecil Textbook of Medicine
Cardiology
- Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine[66]
- Fuster and Hurst's the Heart[67]
Electrocardiography
Endocrinology
- Williams Textbook of Endocrinology[70]
Gastroenterology
Hematology
- Williams Hematology[73]
Infectious diseases
- Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases[74]
Nephrology
- Brenner and Rectors - The Kidney[75]
Oncology
- Abeloff's Clinical Oncology
- DeVita's Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology
- Holland–Frei Cancer Medicine
- Skin Cancer: Recognition and Management
- Souhami's Oxford Textbook of Oncology
Pulmonology
Rheumatology
Neurology
- Adams and Victor's Principles of Neurology
- Merritt's Neurology[80]
Obstetrics and gynecology
Ophthalmology
Paediatrics
Pathology
- Robbins & Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease[90]
- Rosai and Ackerman's Surgical Pathology[91]
- Sternberg's Diagnostic Surgical Pathology[92]
- WHO Classification of Tumours "Blue Books"
Psychiatry
- Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry[93]
Surgery
- Schwartz's Principles of Surgery
- Sabiston Textbook of Surgery - The Biological Basis of Modern Surgical Practice[94]
- Bailey & Love's Short Practice of Surgery
Urology
- Campbell-Walsh-Wein Urology
National and international publications
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) - Official publication of the American Psychiatric Association
- International Classification of Diseases (ICD) - Official publication of the World Health Organization
Dictionaries and encyclopedias
- Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary[95]
- Miller-Keane Encyclopedia & Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health
- Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary
- The Modern Home Physician
Reference guides
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See also
References
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