Born in 980 AD in present-day Uzbekistan, Ibn Sina (known as Avicenna in the West) was a remarkable polymath renowned for his contributions to medicine, astronomy, mathematics, physics and philosophy. Rumour has it that he even memorised the entire Quran before hitting double digits.

A keen student of natural sciences, Avicenna’s holistic approach to medicine emphasised balance within the body, and his most famous work, "Canon of Medicine", was the ultimate medical encyclopaedia that doctors couldn't put down for centuries.

In addition to medicine, Avicenna’s studies in astronomy led to advances in our understanding of celestial mechanics and planetary movements. Somehow, he even found time to dabble in poetry and pen a philosophical masterpiece, earning him a legacy as one of the most influential Islamic scholars in history.