David Gans
| David Gans (David ben Shlomo Gans) | |
|---|---|
Tombstone of David Gans in Prague
|
|
| Born | 1541 Lippstadt |
| Died | 25 August 1613 Prague |
| Resting place | Old Jewish Cemetery of Prague, Josefov, Prague |
| Parent(s) | Shlomo ben Seligman |
David Gans (Hebrew: דָּוִד בֶּן שְׁלֹמֹה גנז; 1541–1613), also known as Rabbi Dovid Solomon Ganz, was a Jewish chronicler, mathematician, historian, astronomer and astrologer. He is the author of "Tzemach David" (1592).
David was born in Lippstadt, in what is now North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. His father, Shlomo, was a moneylender. He studied rabbinical literature in Bonn and Frankfurt am Main, then in Kraków under Moses Isserles.
Later he attended the lectures of the Maharal of Prague and of his brother, Rabbi Sinai. They introduced philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy into the circle of their studies, and from them Gans received the impulse to devote himself to these branches of science. He lived for a time at Nordheim (where he studied Euclid), passed several years in his native city of Lippstadt, and then in about 1564 settled at Prague. There he came into contact with Kepler and Tycho Brahe, and took part for three consecutive days in astronomical observations at the Prague observatory. He also carried on a scientific correspondence with Johann Müller (Regiomontanus), and was charged by Tycho Brahe with the translation of the Alfonsine Tables from Hebrew into German.
...
Wikipedia