John M. Riddle

Who is John M. Riddle?

John M. Riddle is an Alumni Distinguished Professor emeritus of History at North Carolina State University and a specialist in the history of medicine.

Riddle specializes in pharmacological history particularly of the classical and medieval periods, based on previously under-utilized ancient and medieval sources. His methodology is to draw on the modern understanding of medicine, pharmacy, and chemistry to interpret texts and uncover the rationality of early medicine. He is one of the foremost experts on Dioscorides. He demonstrated, for instance, that Dioscorides arranged his presentation of drugs by affinities, based on their physiological action on the body. Thus, if a physician did not have a particular drug, he could look to the entry on the drug preceding or following.

He is best known for advancing the view that women in classical antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period deliberately used herbal abortifacients as a means of fertility regulation.

Riddle has accepted communications in the International Congresses of the International Society for the History of Medicine works.