Streets and streams

At first sight, the disciplines of medicine and city planning seem far removed from each other. However, an investigation of the terminologies of medicine and civil engineering immediately makes us aware of the similarities between the infrastructure of the city and that of the human body: congestion should be prevented, gateways should be controlled, waste should be discharged. This collection of articles by Cornelis van Tilburg explores the interaction between these two evolving sciences in the Graeco-Roman world. Van Tilburg discusses developing ideas about sickness and health as well as practical problems concerning traffic, hygiene and quality of life, and presents the measures taken by architects and civil engineers to make sure that streams remained unhampered and vital systems continued to function.