Al-Farabi

Abu Nasr Mohammad Ibn al-Farakh al-Farabi (870-950 A.D.), was one of the greatest scientists and philosophers of his time. Farabi was born in the small village of Wasij in Turkmenistan from parents of Persian descent. After finishing his early school years in Farab and Bukhara, Farabi arrived in Baghdad to pursue higher studies in 901 A.D. He studied in Baghdad for well over 40 years and acquired mastery over several languages and fields of knowledge. Farabi made notable contributions to the fields of math, philosophy, medicine and even music. As a philosopher and Neo-Platonist he wrote rich commentary on Aristotle's work. He is also credited for categorizing logic into two separate groups, the first one being idea and the second being proof. Farabi wrote books on sociology and a notable book on music captioned Kitab al-Musiqa (The Book of Music). He played and invented a varied number of instruments. Farabi is also famous for his demonstration of the existence of void in Physics.

 Farabi exercised great influence on science and knowledge for several centuries. Unfortunately, the book Theology of Aristotle, as was available to him at that time was regarded by him as genuine, although later on it turned out to be the work of some Neoplatonic writer. Despite this, he was regarded the Second Teacher in philosophy for centuries and his work, aimed at synthesis of philosophy and sufism, paved the way for Ibn Sina's work