Al-Akhawayni's description of pulmonary circulation.

Since antiquity, heart function and the mechanism of blood circulation within the human body have been the focus of attention of scientists from different parts of the world. Over the passage of time, the theories and works of these scientists have resulted in the achievement of today's knowledge of circulation. The medieval Persian scholar, Al-Akhawayni Bukhari (?-983AD), is among the physicians who investigated both the anatomy and the physiology of the human body. Al-Akhawayni describes the mechanism of pulmonary circulation in his only extant book, "Hidayat al-Muta`llemin fi al-Tibb" (A Scholar's Guide to Medicine) with which he made a contribution to the development of knowledge regarding this mechanism in the medicine of the Islamic world. In this paper, Al-Akhawayni's viewpoints on anatomy and the function of the heart, its related vessels, and also pulmonary circulation will be briefly discussed.