It has often been suggested that Christianity brought about the end of science. Whether or not this is true, the Greeks’ inquisitiveness, for one, might have been a threat for the forming faith. Coincidence or not, as Christianity grew in Europe, science declined and remained suppressed for about one thousand years. During this inactive period in Europe, the vast Arab empire embraced science and its learned men did much for the advancement of world progress.

   One field in which Arabic scholars excelled was biology, which from the 3^rd until the 11^th century was essentially an Arab science. Chemistry was another science in which the Arab world took the lead. Most of the chemists of the time were in fact alchemists, busy in the pursuit of the philosopher’s stone, which would supposedly turn common metals into gold.

    The philosopher’s stone was never discovered. However, the efforts spent in its search were not futile. Numerous chemical substances were named and characterized, some of which were found to have medical value. Many drugs now in use are of Arab origin, as are the processes of distillation and sublimation.

     One of the greatest Arab contributors to science is Abu Ali Al-Husayn ibn Abd Allah Ibn Sina, who became one of the most influential philosophers and physicians not only in the Muslim world, but also on a global level.

Ibn Sina’s early life

    Born in 980 in Bukhara, Iran, Ibn Sina (today also famous as Avicenna) was tutored by his father in his forming years. Ibn Sina’s father was a leader of the Ismailiyah – a religious Islamic society, which based its ideas on a type of Neo-Platonism. Although young Ibn Sina never followed his father’s convictions, he benefited extensively from the fact that many learned men often gathered to converse and debate in his father’s house. When he was only ten years old, Ibn Sina had already memorized the Quran, many Arabic poems and other literary works.

    Ibn Sina’s early thirst for knowledge soon took him to prominent teachers of logic and metaphysics. By the time he was eighteen years of age, Ibn Sina found his tutors not needed any more and went on to carry his studying by himself. He acquired profound knowledge in medicine, Islamic Law, and metaphysics.

    Particularly helpful in his intellectual development was his gaining access to the rich royal library of the Samanids- the first great native dynasty that arose in Persia after the Arab conquest. Ibn Sina was granted access to the great library after he successfully cured Prince Nooh Ibn Mansoor of the Samanid dynasty of an illness in which all the well-known physicians of the time had given up hope.

    By his early twenties, the young man had become a popular and highly respected physician. He was also given an administrative post and soon wrote his first book. Suddenly though, the whole pattern of the young man’s life was about to change. His father died, the Samanid house was defeated and he began a period of wandering and turmoil, which was to mark the rest of his life with the exception of a few unusual periods of tranquility.

    Destiny has plunged Ibn Sina into one of the tumultuous periods of the history of Persia. But being exceptionally gifted, he managed to carry on with his intellectual pursuits without being influenced by outward disturbances.

    After wandering around central Persia and failing to find the necessary support and peace of mind to continue with his studies, he then moved to Hamadan, in west central Persia, where the Shams ad-Dawlah was ruling. He cured the ruler of colic and became court physician and a vizier. At one point, a mutiny of soldiers against him caused his dismissal and imprisonment, but subsequently the Shams ad-Dawlah, being again attacked by the colic, summoned him back with an apology and reinstated him.

    The scholar’s life at this time was very strenuous. During the day he was busy fulfilling his duties as a physician and administrator, while a great deal of the night was passed in lecturing and dictating notes for his books. Students would regularly gather in his home and would read parts of his great book, Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb, which he had started working on.

    Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb , also known as the Canon of Medicine, is the most famous single book in the history of medicine in both East and West. It is a study encompassing and systemathising the achievements of Greek physicians as well as the entire medical knowledge available from Muslim sources.

    It is divided into five books. The first contains a general expose on the human body, sickness, health and general treatment and therapeutics. The second book contains the Pharmacology of herbs and a section on experimentation in medicine. The third book is all about the subject of special pathology. The fourth book follows with its famous treatise on fevers and with a treatise on signs, symptoms, diagnostics and prognostics, minor surgery, tumors, wounds, fractures and bites, as well as a chapter on poisons. The fifth book contains the pharmacopoeia, with a description of some 760 drugs.

    In addition to bringing together the then available knowledge, the book is rich with the author's original findings. Ibn Sina’s important contribution includes such advances as recognition of the contagious nature of phthisis and tuberculosis, distribution of diseases by water and soil, and interaction between psychology and health. The first study to describe meningitis and to make rich contributions to anatomy, gynaecology and child health, Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb became a popular classic and was used at many medical schools until as late as 1650.

    In 1022 Shams ad-Dawlah died and Ibn Sina found himself in a rather uncomforting environment. This resulted in a period of difficulty, which culminated into imprisonment. Luckily, Ibn Sina found a way to flee to Isfahan about 250 miles south of Tehran. Accompanied by a small entourage, Ibn Sina reached Isfahan and decided to settle down. There he spent the last 14 years of his life in relative peace. He concluded his great work on his al-Qanun as well as on Kitab al-Shifa', his other monumental work.

    Probably the largest work of its kind ever written by one man, Kitab al-Shifa' (The Book of Healing) embodies a vast field of knowledge and medical experience. Ibn Sina divided philosophy, which he claimed to be the general name for all knowledge, into two major parts. One was speculative philosophy and the other one was practical philosophy. Speculative philosophy was divided into four parts itself, which were interestingly categorised. They were physics - the inferior science, mathematics – considered to be the middle science, and metaphysics and theology - the superior science. Practical philosophy on the other hand was divided into ethics, economics, and politics. These divisions are of essential importance on account of their influence on the arrangement of sciences in the schools where the philosophy of Ibn Sina preceded the introduction of Aristotle’s works.

    Kitab al-Shifa' is also Ibn Sina’s most important work as far as mathematics is concerned, as one of the book’s four parts is solely dedicated to the subject. Ibn Sina divided mathematics into another four branches. These he classified as geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, and music, and he then subdivided each of these topics even further. Geometry he subdivided into geodesy, static, kinematics, hydrostatics, and optics. Astronomy he subdivided into astronomical and geographical tables, and the calendar. Arithmetic was made of the components of algebra, and Indian addition and subtraction. And, finally, music Ibn Sina saw as a whole made up of the subdivisions of the different musical instruments.

    During military campaigns Ibn Sina was expected to accompany his patron, but he still carried on with his writing. It was on one of these military campaigns in 1037 that Ibn Sina fell ill. Despite his attempts to cure himself, he could not prevent the development of the sickness and soon died.

Ibn Sina’s influence

    Throughout his life, Ibn Sina's wrote about 450 works of which only around 240 have survived. From his works in existence today, 150 are on philosophy while 40 are devoted to medicine, the two fields in which he contributed most. He also wrote on psychology, geology, mathematics, astronomy, and logic.

    All of his books and treatises were written in Arabic, with the exception of two works, which were written in Farsi – Ibn Sina’s native language. The first one is the `Daneshnameh-e-Alai' (Encylopedia of Philosophical Sciences), the second - a small treatise on the pulse, which later became quite famous.

    In the 12th century Ibn Sina's Kitab al-Shifa' was translated partially into Latin. The complete al-Qanun also appeared in Europe around this time. These translations and others spread his thought far and wide. In medicine al-Qanun became the undisputed medical authority for several centuries, granting the scholar a place of honor equaled only by the early Greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen. The fame of the book was such that its author became known as the "Prince of Physicians" in the West.

    Also known as al-Sheikh al-Rais (Leader among the wise men), a title given to him by his students, Ibn Sina contributed significantly to the field of astronomy.

    He made astronomical observations while at Isfahan and later - at Hamadan. These studies produced a number of deductions, which proved to be true centuries later. For example, he observed Venus as a spot against the surface of the Sun and correctly deduced that Venus must be closer to the Earth than the Sun. He also invented an instrument for observing the coordinates of a star.

    In physics, his contribution comprised the study of different forms of energy - heat, light and mechanical energy, as well as such concepts as force, vacuum and infinity. He made the important observation that if the perception of light is due to the emission of some sort of particles by the luminous source, the speed of light must be finite. He propounded an interconnection between time and motion, and also made investigations on specific gravity and used an air thermometer.

    He also contributed to the field of music and is the reported author of Persian quatrains and short poems:

"Up from Earth's Centre through the Seventh Gate I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn sate, And many a knot unravelled by the Road, But not the Master-knot of Human Fate."

His treatise on minerals was one of the main sources of geology of the Christian encyclopaedists of the thirteenth century.

    Ibn Sina's major contributions are in philosophy. Although he found Aristotle’s teachings too hard to incorporate into practical knowledge, he wrote numerous treaties discussing his teachings. Ibn Sina’s philosophy synthesises Aristotelian tradition, Neoplatonic influences and Muslim theology. In Latin translations, his works influenced many Western philosophers and scholars, most notably Thomas Aquinas.