al-Kindi | |
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![]() al-Kindi on Iraqi stamp from 1962 | |
Born | c. 801 |
Died | c. 873 (aged approximately 72) Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate (now in Iraq) |
Era | Islamic Golden Age |
Region | Islamic philosophy |
School | |
Main interests | Philosophy, Islamic theology (kalam), logic, ethics, mathematics, physics, chemistry, psychology, pharmacology, medicine, metaphysics, cosmology, astrology, music theory |
Abū Yūsuf Yaʻqūb ibn ʼIsḥāq aṣ-Ṣabbāḥ al-Kindī (/ælˈkɪndi/; Arabic: أبو يوسف يعقوب بن إسحاق الصبّاح الكندي; Latin: Alkindus; c. 801–873 AD) was an Arab Muslim polymath active as a philosopher, mathematician, physician, and music theorist. Al-Kindi was the first of the Islamic peripatetic philosophers, and is hailed as the "father of Arab philosophy".[2][3][4]
Al-Kindi was born in Kufa and educated in Baghdad.[5] 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. This contact with "the philosophy of the ancients" (as Hellenistic philosophy was often referred to by Muslim scholars) had a profound effect on him, as he synthesized, adapted and promoted Hellenistic and Peripatetic philosophy in the Muslim world.[6] He subsequently wrote hundreds of original treatises of his own on a range of subjects ranging from metaphysics, ethics, logic and psychology, to medicine, pharmacology,[7] mathematics, astronomy, astrology and optics, and further afield to more practical topics like perfumes, swords, jewels, glass, dyes, zoology, tides, mirrors, meteorology and earthquakes.[8][9]
In the field of mathematics, al-Kindi played an important role in introducing Hindu numerals to the Islamic world, and their further development into Arabic numerals along with al-Khwarizmi which eventually was adopted by the rest of the world.[10] Al-Kindi was also one of the fathers of cryptography.[11][12] Building on the work of al-Khalil (717–786),[13] Al-Kindi's book entitled Manuscript on Deciphering Cryptographic Messages gave rise to the birth of cryptanalysis, was the earliest known use of statistical inference,[14] and introduced several new methods of breaking ciphers, notably frequency analysis.[15][16] He was able to create a scale that would enable doctors to gauge the effectiveness of their medication by combining his knowledge of mathematics and medicine.[17]
The central theme underpinning al-Kindi's philosophical writings is the compatibility between philosophy and other "orthodox" Islamic sciences, particularly theology, and many of his works deal with subjects that theology had an immediate interest in. These include the nature of God, the soul and prophetic knowledge.[18]
Al Kindi, an Arab scientist from 9th century is considered the father of cryptology, his book on this subject being, at this moment, the oldest available.
LB
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).The lectures are named after Al-Kindi (801–873 CE), a prominent figure in the House of Wisdom, whose book entitled "Manuscript on Deciphering Cryptographic Messages" is believed to be the earliest writing on statistics. In his book, Al-Kindi gave a detailed description on how to decipher encrypted messages using statistics and frequency analysis. This text arguably gave rise to the birth of both statistics and cryptanalysis.