Avicenna

Medieval Persian polymath who revolutionized medicine and philosophy

Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā (980-1037 CE), known in the West as Avicenna, fundamentally transformed multiple fields of knowledge through his groundbreaking works. His monumental 《The Canon of Medicine》 became the standard medical textbook in Europe and Islamic world for over 600 years.

What made Avicenna truly make a difference was his systematic approach to medical science. He:

• Introduced clinical trials and evidence-based medicine
• Discovered contagious nature of tuberculosis
• Described meningitis and its symptoms
• Pioneered psychosomatic medicine concepts

In philosophy, his 《The Book of Healing》 synthesized Aristotelian thought with Neoplatonism, influencing later medieval scholars like Thomas Aquinas. His 'Floating Man' thought experiment predated Descartes' cogito by six centuries.