Ibn Sina, also known in the West as Avicenna, was born in 980 AD near Bukhara in present day Uzbekistan. He is considered one of the greatest physicians, philosophers, astronomers, writers and thinkers of the Islamic Golden Age and the ‘Father of early modern medicine’.
He wrote around 450 books of which 240 have survived. He also wrote many books on philosophy, of which Kitab al Shifa or the ‘Book of Healing’ is the most prominent.
His Al Qanun fi al Tibb or the ‘Canon of Medicine’ was the most important medical reference book in Europe from the 12th to the 17th centuries. The Canon is divided into five books which deal with anatomy, etiology (origin or cause) of disease, classification of disease, treatment methods and medicines. His clarity and categorization within each topic gave physicians a framework for reference and encouraged treatments based on evidence. He introduced technical medical terminology that remained relevant over hundreds of years.
He encouraged experimentation as a means for scientific enquiry. His use of scientific principles to test the safety and effectiveness of medications forms the basis of contemporary pharmacology. He was one of the first physicians to advise quarantine to control the transmission of contagious diseases like tuberculosis.
He was equally influential both in the Western and Arab worlds and is regarded as the greatest of all Islamic philosopher-scientists.
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