Abu-Bakr al-Razi

Abu-Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya al-Razi, was born in 865 A.C. in Iran. He is called al-Razi after the place of his birth, Rayy, near Tehran.

He was a great scholar, who first studied and mastered music and then interested himself in philosophy. It was only at an advanced age that he took up the study of medicine and became one of the most renowned physicians of his time.

Al-Razi was a prolific writer. He wrote many books on medicine, physical science, chemistry, mathematics, astronomy and philosophy. But he is remembered most by the people of the world for his love and interest in medicine and the number of important books he wrote on the subject. H is works were translated in the West and they exercised a remarkable influence on Western scholars, by whom he is remembered to this day by the name of Rhazes.

Al-Razi was first appointed the head of the State hospital in the city of Rayy. Later he was promoted to the post of the Chief Physician of the State Hospital - Bimaristan - at Baghdad, the capital of the Abbaside Khalifahs. Here he won high reputation in both the practice of medicine and surgery.

He was a great investigator in the field of medical research, and his descriptions of the eye, the nose and the heart are considered even to-day as the most complete and authoritative. He was the first to describe smallpox and measles most accurately.

Al-Razi was an original thinker who liked to experiment with new ideas. As the Chief Physician of the State, he was once requested to choose a suitable site for the building of a hospital. Al-Razi went around the city on an inspection tour and had pieces of meat hung in various localities of the city. From these he chose for the hospital site, the spot where the meat showed the least signs of decomposition.

His clinical note-book, which contained detailed notes of experiments which he had made during his lifetime is also regarded as a valuable contribution in the science of healing.

Al-Razi was the author of some two hundred books of outstanding merit. He was the first to write the most accurate essays on contagious diseases. His Kitab al Mansuri, which runs into ten volumes is an Encyclopaedia of Medicine. It was first translated into Latin in the 1480s.

In Al-Hawi, which is al-Razi's chief work in twenty volumes, he has written about every disease known at that period, basing his conclusions upon his own personal observations and long experiences. This work was first translated in Latin in 1542 A.C.

Al-Razi's works continued to remain the source of all chemical knowledge for centuries after his death, - a fine example of a keen original thinker, devoted to the task of alleviating pain and suffering of mankind.

He died in 925 A.C.