I wanna try your shoes on and wear 'em for a day. Learn to walk like you do and see what I see.

The person of the week this week is someone who has passed away. Not recently either. In fact, he died in 1037 CE. This man is considered the father of modern medicine. Some of the things he is credited for are freaking amazing. Yet, sadly, I am willing to bet most Americans have never heard of him. Also, when they hear his name, I bet an alarmingly large number of Americans would have something disrespectful or racist to say or think.

Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā Balkhi was a Persian physician and philosopher born around 980. His friend's called him Ibn Sīnā. The Europeans called him Avicenna (you may have heard the name if you read "The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri). To put it bluntly, Ibn Sīnā was one of the greatest minds of all time. Especially considering the great thinking being done in the world during this time ... for example The Dark Ages of Europe. Remember, the Crusades did not begin until 1095 CE. This was a sad sad time for science and enlightenment.

All that Ibn Sīnā is credited with introducing so many things that I refuse to type them all out in my own words. Queue up wikipedia:

"Ibn Sīnā is regarded as a father of early modern medicine, and clinical pharmacology particularly for his introduction of systematic experimentation and quantification into the study of physiology, his discovery of the contagious nature of infectious diseases, the introduction of quarantine to limit the spread of contagious diseases, the introduction of experimental medicine, evidence-based medicine, clinical trials, randomized controlled trials, efficacy tests, clinical pharmacology, neuropsychiatry, risk factor analysis, and the idea of a syndrome, and the importance of dietetics and the influence of climate and environment on health. He is also considered the father of the fundamental concept of momentum in physics, and regarded as a pioneer of aromatherapy for his invention of steam distillation and extraction of essential oils. He also developed the concept of uniformitarianism and law of superposition in geology."

Granted, I do not believe "uniformitarianism" is a word, but it is still an impressive list.

His book, The Canon of Medicine was used as a medical authority in Europe and the Islamic world into the 19th century and still as a standard medical text as late as the University of Montpelier in France in 1650. It not only set the foundation for European (and therefore American) and Arabic medicine, but it was translated and used in China and India (in India it became the basis for the traditional healing in Unani).

Ibn Sīnā was also a brilliant philosopher. I am not big on philosophers, I just enjoyed the fact he challenged Greek philosophers such as Aristotle in his works as a way of encouraging debate. It seems the world would have been a lot better during this time if people encouraged philosophical and scientific debate over accepting the "great" Roman and Greek philosophers and scientists for thousands of years.

In closing, Ibn Sīnā was probably the greatest mind to ever exist. I am willing to hear other options, but the breadth and amazingness of his discoveries and introductions make him the top of the heap. The closest I can think of is Leonardo da Vinci about five-hundred years later. Da Vinci was more an inventor and artist. However, they were both brilliant minds. Just, Ibn Sīnā is much more impressive. If he was some sort of Western European or Ancient Roman or Greek and made the same discoveries everyone would know about Ibn Sīnā. In fact, he would be one of the most famous people to ever exist. Actually, if he was born in the same time in Europe he would not have done squat and probably have been burned as a witch for being a scientist. Thank goodness he was born where he was as a Muslim and could actually do what he did. (Key fun fact, Arabic was the language of science at this time because when Europe turned their brains off during the Middle/Dark Ages the Islamic world picked up the slack ... immensely)