Today’s homework. A bigger story.
Pick a topic, meet the people behind the ideas, and try something together.
20 pioneers with prepared, book-cited stories. Explore all 315 profiles
What makes a drawing useful to someone who has never seen the object?
Explore medicine & useful design with Al-Zahrawi, then try the activity below.
The legacy behind the lesson
Al-Zahrawi was a surgeon in southern Spain, also known in Europe as Abulcasis.
His medical encyclopedia was called Al-Tasrif and included a section on surgery.
The surgery section described more than 200 surgical instruments.
“What makes a drawing useful to someone who has never seen the object?”
Explain a familiar tool
Gather: Paper, a pencil, and a safe everyday object such as a spoon.
- 1
Look carefully at the safe object you chose.
- 2
Draw it large enough to show its different parts.
- 3
Label each part and describe what it helps the object do.
- 4
Ask someone to identify the object from your drawing alone.