Avicenna, or Ibn Sina (973 – 1037), was a famous philosopher and physician who was born in Persia near Bukhara in the Symanid dynasty. Although he practiced medicine, he is best know for his prolific medical writings of over 200 medical texts including, “The Canon of Medicine”, the definitive encyclopedia of Greek and Roman medical achievement as well as new discoveries in medicine. Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine was pivotal in re-introducing Galen’s idea of close observation while developing a system of medicine that was informed by new facts and symptoms. This work was extremely popular in Islamic medicine and was also extensively studied by European universities from the 12th to 18th Century.
Avicenna believed that matter was passive and creation was the act of instilling existence into passive substances.
Following his brilliant works on medicine, Avicenna published many religious tracts, poems, works on philosophy and logic such as physics, mathematics and astronomy. When Avicenna died in 1037, he was held in high regard for his contribution to medicine along with other great physician before him such as Galen.