As a physics major, I am interested in the scientific method and the soundness of results. I choose to read and research Hildegard von Bingen’s Physica, as this is one of the largest collections of health and medicine from medieval Europe. Hildegard von Bingen was a well accomplished woman. She was born in 1098 and died in 1179 at the age of 81. She founded a new convent twice, which was a significant move for a woman during this time (Bingen pg. 2). Bingen’s medical career and skill is different from skill of other notable names of this time because she did not attribute them to a divine reckoning from God, but rather from extensive time and energy that she committed to herbal gardens and study. Hildegard based her knowledge and cures on the theory of humors. This theory, in short, states that a person is healthy if he has a balance of the four humors; hot, cold, wet, and dry. Bingen believed that is someone was ill it was because their humors were out of balance. From reading this book, I hoped to gain insight on how science and research was carried out before there were any major advances in science as we know it.…show more content… From reading about how many plants and trees and stones can heal aches and disorders, the process that seemed to be used most often is combining many different plants and mixtures and applying to the issue. If the problem is resolved, Bingen would choose on of the ingredients and write that this plant solves this issue, whether it was true or not. She seemed to be using more of a guess and check approach in order to discover new remedies. This method, however, is not far off from what drug companies do today. The main difference is that today, companies try to include constants and don’t introduce multiple variables at
