Ibn Sina, commonly known in the West as Avicenna, was a preeminent philosopher and physician of the Muslim world. He was a seminal figure of the Islamic Golden Age, serving in the courts of various Iranian rulers, and was influential to medieval European medical and Scholastic thought. Avicenna is considered one of the greatest thinkers and medical scholars in history. 980 – 1037; died at about 57. Alive at the same time as Murasaki Shikibu, Leif Erikson, Sylvester II, Vladimir the Great, and Ferdowsi. Wiki link