Al-Kindi

Known for

Founded cryptanalysis by frequency analysis; wrote on optics, medicine and music

Biography

Arab polymath from Kufa who worked at the House of Wisdom and was tutor at the Abbasid court; the first major Arab philosopher.

Contributions

• Wrote the earliest known description of frequency analysis to break ciphers
• Wrote on optics, arguing that vision works by rays travelling in straight lines
• Worked on pharmacology, using a mathematical scale to measure the strength of drugs
• Helped bring Greek philosophy and science into Arabic

Major works

• Risala fi Istikhraj al-Mu'amma (On Deciphering Cryptographic Messages)
• De Aspectibus (on optics, Latin title)