Abu Zayd Ahmed ibn Sahl al-Balkhi | |
|---|---|
| Born | 850 |
| Died | 934 (aged 83–84) |
| Era | Islamic Golden Age |
| Region | Persian scholar |
| School | Persian science, Islamic science, Islamic geography, Islamic mathematics, Islamic medicine, Islamic psychological thought |
Main interests | Geography, Mathematics, Medicine, Neuroscience, Psychology, Science |
Abu Zayd Ahmed ibn Sahl Balkhi (Persian: ابو زید احمد بن سهل بلخی) was a Persian Muslim polymath: a geographer, mathematician, physician, psychologist and scientist. Born in 850 CE in Shamistiyan, in the province of Balkh, Greater Khorasan, he was a disciple of al-Kindi. He also founded the "Balkhī school" of terrestrial mapping in Baghdad.[1] Al-Balkhi is believed to have been the first to diagnose that mental illness can have psychological and physiological causes and he was the first to typify four types of emotional disorders: fear and anxiety; anger and aggression; sadness and depression; and obsessions.