--- description: Google Doodle celebrates what would be the 1038th birthday of Avicenna, one of the most influential pre-modern thinkers title: What to Know About Avicenna, Polymath of Islamic Golden Age image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20a27d173fc5c276/6989372f22fb850fe9e265c7/ibn-sinas-1038th-birthday-5768556863029248-2-2x.png?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here's What to Know About Avicenna, Great Medical Mind of the Islamic Golden Age ## Video: How Google Makes its Doodles [Watch (HLS stream): How Google Makes its Doodles](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/upF0qp1E.m3u8) (3:23)  _Published 2018-07-07. Our videographer went to the Googleplex in Mountain View, California to meet some of the designers and coders who create the special, clever variations on the Google.com logo known as_ by [Casey Quackenbush](/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 7, 2018 7:39 AM CUT  A Google Doodle honoring Ibn Sina’s 1038th Birthday on August 7, 2018. A Google Doodle honoring Ibn Sina’s 1038th Birthday on August 7, 2018.Google Doodle by [Casey Quackenbush](/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 7, 2018 7:39 AM CUT Astronomy, medicine, theology, physics, arithmetic, poetry — there was seemingly no discipline left untouched by the renowned polymath Avicenna, celebrated today by [Google Doodle](https://www.google.com/doodles/ibn-sinas-1038th-birthday "undefined") in honor of what would be his 1,038th birthday. Also known as Ibn Sīnā, Avicenna was one of the most influential thinkers of the medieval Islamic world. Born in 980 during the Islamic Golden Age, Avicenna was a self-taught intellectual. Growing up in Afšana, a village near Bukhara in what is present-day Uzbekistan, Avicenna learned Indian arithmetic from a grocer, pursued an intense study of Aristotle’s _Metaphysics_ during his teenage years and began studying medicine at age of 16. Avicenna was also a prolific writer, authoring at least 131 books. His contributions to medicine were particularly significant. _Al Qanun fil-Tibb_, or the _Canon of Medicine_, is a monumental medical encyclopedia that was translated into Latin in the 12th century and used as the primary text for European medical courses until the 17th century. Avicenna’s work was the first to recognize diseases like tuberculosis and postulate that illnesses could spread through soil and water. The _Canon_, having established some of the fundamentals of anatomy, pediatrics, and gynecology, is now recognized as laying the groundwork for Western medicine. Avicenna also wrote extensively on early Islamic philosophy. One of his most famous works, the _Book of Healing_, is a science and philosophic encyclopedia intended to cure ailments of the soul. Also called the _Cure,_ Avicenna’s metaphysics is said to have had a [major impact](https://www.iep.utm.edu/avicenna/#H5 "undefined") on European scholasticism, and in particular the Italian theologian Thomas Aquinas. In June 1037, Avicenna was struck with severe colic, a disease of the abdomen. He was 58 when he died, and laid to rest in Hamadan, Iran. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5359483/google-doodle-avicenna-ib-sina/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5359483/google-doodle-avicenna-ib-sina/"},"headline":"Here's What to Know About Avicenna, Great Medical Mind of the Islamic Golden Age","datePublished":"2018-08-07T07:39:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:54:11.953Z","description":"The father of early modern medicine was born 1,038 years ago","url":"https://time.com/5359483/google-doodle-avicenna-ib-sina/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Google Doodle","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20a27d173fc5c276/6989372f22fb850fe9e265c7/ibn-sinas-1038th-birthday-5768556863029248-2-2x.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Casey Quackenbush","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/casey-quackenbush/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20a27d173fc5c276/6989372f22fb850fe9e265c7/ibn-sinas-1038th-birthday-5768556863029248-2-2x.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ibn-sinas-1038th-birthday-5768556863029248.2-2x","caption":"A Google Doodle honoring Ibn Sina’s 1038th Birthday on August 7, 2018.","creditText":"Google Doodle","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5359483/google-doodle-avicenna-ib-sina/","name":"Here's What to Know About Avicenna, Great Medical Mind of the Islamic Golden Age"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How Google Makes its Doodles","description":"Our videographer went to the Googleplex in Mountain View, California to meet some of the designers and coders who create the special, clever variations on the Google.com logo known as","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/upF0qp1E/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-07-07T16:09:57.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/upF0qp1E.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5359483/google-doodle-avicenna-ib-sina/","duration":"PT3M23S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5359483/google-doodle-avicenna-ib-sina/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```