History: Middle Ages

Question 1

Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon)

Answer 1

(ad 1135–1204)
Before the Renaissance
Included a treatise on the treatment of poisonings (Poisons and their Antidotes, 1198)
Like Hippocrates before him, wrote on the subject of bioavailability, noting that milk, butter, and cream could delay intestinal absorption.
Maimonides also refuted many of the popular remedies of the day and stated his doubts about others. It is rumored that alchemists of this period (circa ad 1200), in search of the universal antidote, learned to distill fermented products and made a 60% ethanol beverage that had many interesting powers.