Avicenna, a Persian physician born in southern Russia in 980 AD, made significant contributions to medicine, mathematics, philosophy, and psychology. His Canon of Medicine, which described diseases and treatment strategies, was a groundbreaking work and was used as a medical reference for centuries. He also wrote about the contagious nature of some diseases and promoted quarantine as a strategy. Avicenna is known as a polymath for his pursuits in various fields of study.
Avicenna, also known as Ibn Sina or Ibn Seena, was a Persian physician born in what would today be the extreme southern region of Russia. Avicenna is the name given to him in the West, but he is not commonly known in the Middle East or other parts of the world. His contributions to the society include works in medicine, mathematics and philosophy.
Avicenna was born around 980 AD It is said that by the age of 10 Avicenna was already well versed in the Koran and other Muslim texts. During his teenage years, he studied a number of different subjects, eventually deciding to pursue medicine. He died in 1037.
Avicenna’s best-known work is called the Canon of Medicine. At the time, the work was considered groundbreaking and described a number of diseases and even how they spread. For example, he noted that many diseases are spread through soil and water. He also gives advice for cancer treatment.
Avicenna also wrote about treatment strategies for other diseases. Recognizing the contagious nature of some diseases, which did not strike people simply by chance but because they had come into contact with another infected person or substance, prompted him to promote quarantine. Of course, this wasn’t necessarily a new practice. In the days of the Roman Empire, lepers were often quarantined. However, he codified when quarantine may or may not be an effective strategy.
Avicenna also wrote an anthology of over 700 drugs in the Canon of Medicine. The texts he wrote were considered good enough to be used as textbooks even hundreds of years into the future. Indeed, books by him were standard fare in universities even after the Renaissance. Some have argued that Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine was routinely used as a medical reference far longer than any other work in the field.
Avicenna also dabbled in the field of psychology, noting a number of mental illnesses. He also detailed how emotions can affect a person’s physical condition. Some have credited him with the idea of love sickness, an affliction he diagnosed in one of his patients and that others had not noticed.
However, Avicenna’s works are not simply limited to matters of medicine. He also wrote works on physics, philosophy and mathematics. Hence he is known as a polymath, or one who pursues many different fields of study.
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