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How many books make up Avicenna’s The Canon of Medicine?
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Avicenna
The title page of the 1556 edition of Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine (Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb). This edition (sometimes called the 1556 Basel edition) was translated by medieval scholar Gerard of Cremona.
Avicenna’s The Canon of Medicine is organized into five books.1
The structure of the work is as follows:
* Book I: Contains four treatises covering the four elements, humours, anatomy, etiology, symptoms, hygiene, and therapeutic nosology.1
* Book II: A "Materia Medica" containing a compendium of drugs.1
* Book III: Covers "Head-to-Toe Diseases".1
* Book IV: Examines diseases not specific to certain organs, such as fevers and systemic pathologies.1
* Book V: Presents "Compound Drugs," including theriacs and electuaries.1