SOCIAL  MEDICINE

 

Al Farabi 873 – 950

also known as Alfarabius, the first-known philosopher in the Islamic world to uphold the primacy of philosophical truth over revelation, claiming that, contrary to the beliefs of various other religions, philosophical truths are the same throughout the world. He was born in Farab, Transoxiana (now Uzbekistan), of Turkish parentage. He studied first in Khorasan (in Iran) and then in Baghdad, where his teachers were Syriac Christians well acquainted with Greek philosophy. He eventually came to the court of Sayf al-Dawla, the ruler of Aleppo in Syria. Al-Farabi was one of the earliest Islamic thinkers to transmit to the Arab world the doctrines of Plato and Aristotle (which he considered essentially identical), thereby greatly influencing such later Islamic philosophers as Avicenna and Averroës.

 

Influenced in his metaphysical views by the Neoplatonism of Plotinus, Al-Farabi posited a Supreme Being who had created the world through the exercise of rational intelligence. He believed this same rational faculty to be the sole part of the human being that is immortal, and thus he set as the paramount human goal the development of that rational faculty. Al-Farabi gave considerably more attention to political theory than did any other Islamic philosopher, adapting the Platonic system (as developed in Plato's Republic and Laws) to the contemporary Muslim political situation in The Perfect City.

 

Alfarabius formulated as an ideal a universal religion of which all other existing religions are considered symbolic expressions. Of his 100 or so works, many have been lost, including his commentaries on Aristotle. Many others have been preserved only in Medieval Latin translation. In addition to his philosophical writings, he compiled a catalogue of the sciences, the first Muslim work to attempt a systematization of human knowledge. He also made a contribution to musical theory in his “great book of music”.

               

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Al Biruni 973 – 1050

Turkish scientist, who wrote on a wide variety of scientific subjects. His most important contributions as a scientist were his keen observations of natural phenomena, rather than theories. Sometimes called “the master”, he became one of the best-known Muslim scientists of his time.

Al Biruni was born in what is now Uzbekistan. Al Biruni's records show that he wrote 113 works, but most of them have been lost. The subjects he dealt with included astronomy, astrology, chronology, geography, mathematics, mechanics, medicine, pharmacology, meteorology, mineralogy, history, religion, philosophy, literature, and magic. One or more books on most of these subjects have survived. Al Biruni's important works include Canon, his most comprehensive study of astronomy; Densities, which records specific gravities of various metals, liquids, and gems; Astrolabe, one of the most valuable descriptions of that instrument which contains more than 700 descriptions of drugs; and India, his best-known work, in which he used his knowledge of Sanskrit to describe Indian customs, languages, science, and geography.

 

Georgius Agricola 1494 – 1555

German scientist, who is generally regarded as the founder of the science of mineralogy. Agricola was one of the first scientists to base his theories on observation rather than on speculation. He was born in Saxony as Georg Bauer; Georgius Agricola is the Latin form of his name. Agricola studied medicine in Italy, and in 1527 he became the town physician in the mining centre of Joachimsthal. However, Agricola spent most of his life studying mineralogy and geology. His greatest work, De Re Metallica, which was published posthumously in 1556, served as a textbook and guide for mining engineers for almost two centuries. At the time of his death Agricola was burgomaster (mayor) of the city of Chemnitz.

 

 

Israel, FDC of Maimonides for 750^th anniversary of his death

Maimonides 1135 – 1204

Jewish philosopher and physician, born in Córdoba, Spain. He was also known as Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, or, from the initials of his name, Rambam. Following the capture of Córdoba in 1148 by the Almohads, who imposed the ways of Islam on Christians and Jews alike, Maimonides's family decided to emigrate. After years of wandering they finally settled in Cairo. There Maimonides eventually became the chief rabbi of Cairo and physician to Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Syria. He researched about hygiene, diet and poisons.