AverroesDied 10 Dec 1198 (born 1126). Abu-alWalid Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn (known as Averroes) was a Spanish philosopher, physician and astronomer who is known for his Kulliyat fi ab tb (Generalities on Medicine) produced between 1162-69 on topics ranging from organ anatomy and hygiene to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases. In this work, which spread widely in translations, he attempted to logically codify the existing medical knowledge. He critized adherance to tradition and instead stressed the importance of empirical evidence. In astronomy, he believed that the motion of the planets had to be around a physical centre (the Earth) and rejected Ptolemy's system of epicycles. He was the most famous of the medieval Islamic philosophers and as a principal interpreter of Aristotle, his commentaries were widely used as standard texts until the sixteenth century.«[Image: Ibn Rushd as portrayed in a detail from Raffaello Sanzio's fresco, The School of Athens (1509).] |
