Early medical practice was intimately allied to philosophy and religion, and only in modern times has it become basically a mechanical and chemical practice based on physical processes. Wilder is most widely known today for his Platonic and philosophic writings as well as having been a prominent figure in medicine of his time, so he is ideally suited as a historian of the early paradigms of medicine. Areas covered are early medical practice in Egypt, Assyria, Persia, India and early Hinduism, China, Greece, the lack of serious schools in Rome, Europe in the Dark Ages, the preservation and...