Dr. Alain Touwaide gives plenary lecture to the Washington Academy of Sciences based on his Earthwatch-supported research on plant use in classical antiquity.
Although the roots of modern science are known to be in Ancient Greece, few scientists recognize the contribution that ancient scholars can still make to modern issues like health care and protecting biodiversity. Dr. Alain Touwaide, a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution, suggests that there is still much to learn from historic botanical texts. Touwaide gave the plenary lecture at the Washington Academy of Sciences based on his Earthwatch-supported research on the topic.
"Data from ancient texts can greatly contribute to the protection of biodiversity and the environment, and to the creation of new policy for a sustainable development," said Touwaide, principal investigator of Earthwatch's Medicinal Plants of Antiquity project. "They could help reactivate traditional plant uses for therapeutic purposes in the so-called emerging countries, alleviating both the ailments of their populations and the costs of expensive Western medicines."
Touwaide delivered the keynote lecture, titled Plants and Man in Antiquity, at the Annual Plenary Meeting of the Washington Academy of Sciences (WAS) on May 11, 2004. The botanical historian is a "member at large" of the board of the academy.
The WAS lecture was a synthesis of Touwaide's research on the topic of plant uses in antiquity, including a discussion of the historic manuscripts and other sources for research on ancient botany, his research methods, and some of the highlights from his findings. For instance, he found that almost half of the 3,100 botanical formulas attributed to Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, were made with only 45 plants, most of them of Near-Eastern origin. This finding is contrary to the common perception that the Greek physicians rejected the work of their Near-Eastern colleagues as dominated by magic and superstition.
Touwaide's analysis of the assimilation of ancient botanical knowledge into Western science shows that it did not proceed in a linear fashion, but in fits and starts. Roman, Byzantine, Arabic, and Renaissance scholars translated the ancient texts, sometimes many times, each one adding his own updated perspective to the treatise.
Earthwatch teams working with Touwaide are currently analyzing herbals from the Renaissance period in the rare book department of the National Library of Rome, to help understand how ancient knowledge was gradually assimilated. Their work is part of Touwaide's historic effort to compile a comprehensive database of ancient therapeutic practices from rare books and archaeological sites, before these precious sources are lost.
"Ancient texts on medicinal plants are a repository of knowledge that was gradually created over the millennia from the dawn of Humankind," said Touwaide. "Yet such knowledge is threatened with disappearance, not only because the plant species could become extinct, but also because the very awareness of the ancient texts is disappearing, as is the knowledge of their contents, their languages, and their history."
"Even the ancient manuscripts themselves, which are the only surviving witnesses of ancient knowledge, are disappearing. The fire of the Library of Alexandia," added Touwaide, referring to the destruction of the ancient world's greatest archive of knowledge during Roman times, "has been repeated several times in world history, even recently."
Earthwatch Institute is an international nonprofit organization which supports scientific field research worldwide by offering members of the public unique opportunities to work alongside leading field scientists and researchers. The Institute's mission is to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment.