Avicenna was known for what?

Question

Options

• APenicillin
• BBacteria
• CCannon of Medicine

• A
  3% (1)
• B
  3% (1)
• C
  93% (27)

Explanation

Avicenna (Ibn Sina, 980–1037 CE) was a Persian polymath and physician best known for writing Canon of Medicine (Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb), a comprehensive medical encyclopedia that remained a standard reference in European and Islamic medical schools for centuries.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• A (Penicillin) - Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928, nearly 900 years after Avicenna's death.
• B (Bacteria) - The germ theory of bacteria was developed by scientists like Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch in the 19th century; microscopy didn't exist in Avicenna's era.

Memory tip: Think "Avicenna → Canon" - he was the canon of medieval medicine, the gold standard. The word "canon" means an authoritative rule or standard, which matches his work's historical role perfectly.

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