(hÄ-pok´rah-tÄ“z) (late 5th century b.c.). “Father of Medicine.†Son of a priest-physician, he was born on the island of Cos. By stressing that there is a natural cause for disease he did much to dissociate the care of the sick from the influence of magic and superstition. His carefully kept records of treatment and solicitous observation of ill persons provided a foundation for clinical medicine in the case report; by also reporting unsuccessful methods of treatment, he anticipated the modern scientific attitude. See also hippocratic oath .
