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WHAT IS AVICENNA?
Who is  Avicenna?
Avicenna, also known as Ibn Sina or  Ibn Seena, was a Persian doctor born in what today would be the extreme southern region of Russia. Avicenna is the name given to him in the West, but he is not commonly known by it in the Middle East or other parts of the world. His contributions to society include works in the fields of medicine, mathematics in philosophy. Avicenna was born in approximately 980 C.E. It is said that by the time Avicenna was 10 years old, he was already well versed in the Koran and other Muslim texts. While a teenager, he studied a number of different subjects, eventually settling on 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 illnesses, and even how they spread. Avicenna also wrote about treatment strategies for other diseases. Recognizing the contagious nature of some diseases, that they did not hit people simply by chance but because they had come into contact with another infected person or substance, caused him to promote quarantine. Of course, this was not a new practice necessarily. In the days of the Roman Empire, lepers were often quarantined. However, it did codify when quarantine may or may not be an effective strategy.


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