A 16th century woodcut of Hippocrates (460-370 BC), Greek physician considered to be the father of medicine. His influence survives in the Hippocratic oath (a code of medical ethics) taken by medical students on completion of their training. Little concrete is known about Hippocrates. He founded a medical school on the Aegean island of Cos, where his ideas on medical conduct & practice were implemented. He advocated a rational approach to medicine, believing that disease was caused by physical phenomenon & not by the interference of the gods. Taken from Pare's Surgery.