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18 18 The Pride of Our Nation

India has gifted to this world many great men and women at various times.

There are many great sages, philosophers, scientists, reformers and leaders
born in India. They make us feel proud to be Indians. A great scientist, Albert
Einstein said once, “We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count,

without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.”

Some of the great persons are discussed here.

Medical Science

Indian system of medicine is one of the oldest systems of the world. Since
ancient times, Indians used various herbal plants like neem, tulsi, turmeric, etc.
for treatment of various diseases. This medicine system is known as Ayurveda .

‘Ayu’ means ‘life’ and ‘veda’ means ‘knowledge’. This system provides knowledge
about life. Sushruta , Charak , etc. are well known names in this field.

Sushruta

Sushruta is called the father of Indian

surgery . He lived in 1st century A.D. during
the Mauryan period . He considered
Dhanvantari as his teacher. He was the first

person to study human anatomy . He
discovered a unique way to study the internal

organs of human body. First, the dead body
was tied to a load then placed into the water.

After a week the body was taken out and dead
skin was removed by a brush made of plants. Sushruta
This helped him study the internal organs of the body.

His book Sushruta Samhita deals with surgery, diet, bathing, drug, infant

feeding and medical education. This book consists of 120 chapters divided into
six sections. Sushruta also described many surgical operations such as cataract ,

hernia , lithoromy , caesarian , etc. He was expert at removing bladder stones and
treating fractures.

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