c. 870-c. 950

Persian Turkistani follower of al-Kindi (c. 801-c. 866) who was a polymathic scholar (learned in many disciplines) and philosopher leaning toward Neoplatonism and interested in synthesizing that with Aristotelianism. While many of his works are lost, 117 books on various subjects survive. Al-Farabi was known to have composed many commentaries on Plato and Aristotle. One that is known for its useful fundamentals and classification of scientific study was the Kitab al-Ihsa al-Ulum. This book contained an early commentary on Aristotle's Meteorologica. Al-Farabi also contributed to the study of logic by distinguishing its two parts of idea and proof.