Fast Factfiles

Hailed as the father of Arab philosophy, Al-Kindi was born in Kufa around 801 AD. He became a prominent figure in the House of Wisdom, and a number of Abbasid Caliphs appointed him to oversee the translation of Greek scientific and philosophical texts into the Arabic language. He subsequently wrote hundreds of original treaties of his own on a range of subjects ranging from metaphysics, ethics, logic and psychology, to medicine, pharmacology, mathematics, astronomy, astrology and optics. In the field of mathematics, Al-Kindi played an important role in introducing Indian numerals to the Islamic world, and their further development into Arabic numerals along withAl-Khwarizmi,whicheventuallywasadoptedbythe restoftheworld.Al-Kindiwasalsooneofthefathersof cryptography - his book gave rise to the birth of cryptanalysis, which was the earliest known use of statisticalinference.Hewasabletocreateascalethat would enable doctors to gauge the effectiveness of their medication by combining his knowledge of mathematicsandmedicine.