While Westerners credit William Harvey for discovering blood circulation in 1616, pulmonary circulation had already been described by the Arabic doctor Ibn
Al-Nafis 300 years before. While his knowledge was incomplete, Al-Nafis knew that the heart had two halves and that blood passed through the lungs when traveling from one side of the heart to the other. He also realized that the heart is nourished by capillaries.
Besides his description of the circulatory system and the heart, Al-Nafis advocated dissection as a means of truly learning anatomy and physiology, although he also writes that he didn’t perform dissections because of his strict Muslim beliefs. He described his observations on the brain, nervous system, bone structure and gall bladder and more in his great medical encyclopaedia Al-Shamil. Unfortunately, not many of Al-Nafis’ writings were translated into Latin, leaving Christian doctors befuddled regarding basic anatomy until much later.
Islamic medicine recognized that some diseases were infectious, including leprosy, smallpox and sexually transmitted diseases. To these, the great Islamic doctor Avicenna added tuberculosis and described how contagious diseases spread and necessary methods of quarantine.
The 10th century Arabic doctor Al Zahrawi established the basis of surgery in Al-Andalus in Cordoba, where he worked as a doctor for the Caliph Al-Hakam II. He wrote a great medical treatise, the Kitab al-Tasrif, a 30-volume book of medicine and surgery. Al Zahrawi invented over 200 surgical instruments, many of which are still used today, including forceps, scalpel, surgical needle and retractor, specula and catgut sutures. Sorry if this is to much to read
