Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (865-925 AD) was a Persian polymath. A prominent figure in the Islamic Golden Age, physician, alchemist, chemist, philosopher and scholar. He made fundamental and enduring contributions to the fields of medicine, alchemy, music, and philosophy, recorded in over 200 books and articles in various fields of science. He was well-versed in Persian, Greek and Indian medical knowledge and made numerous advances in medicine through own observations and discoveries. He was an early proponent of experimental medicine and has been described as the father of pediatrics for writing, The Diseases of Children, the first book to deal with pediatrics as an independent field of medicine. He became chief physician of Rey and Baghdad hospitals. His development of apparatus such as mortars, flasks, spatulas and phials, which were used in pharmacies until the early 20th century. An eye affliction started with cataracts and ended in total blindness. He refused to be treated and told a student he would die soon. He died several days later at the age of 60. Illustration from Vies Des Savants Illustrates, Savants Du Moyen-Age by Louis Figuier, 1883.