Content area
Full Text
Biography
{14} 1541-1613: These are the only two dates in the life of Gans that we know for certain. The date of his birth is mentioned in his chronological book Zemach David, where he himself refers to it, and the other is taken from his tombstone at the graveyard of the former Prague Ghetto (see Plate 2). No other reports, contemporary or later, about his life are available except two of his books, containing only very few indications of the circumstances of his private life. A part of the following is taken from Zunz' biography [84]. See also [3, 6, 7, 9, 16, 20, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 38, 39, 46, 51, 52, 56, 57, 61, 63, 65, 82].
David ben Solomon Gans was born 1541 in Lippstadt in Westphalia (Germany). He received his first education in Frankfurt-on-the-Main and then went to the Talmud school in Cracow, where he was a pupil of the then famous Rabbi Moshe Isserles. There he also came into close contact with mathematics and astronomy. Later, in Nordheim, he studied Euclid, and this connection with mathematics and astronomy inspired him to such a degree that it became his life's work.
At about 1564 he moved to Prague, where he probably spent the rest of his life. There he became a pupil of Rabbi Löw ben Bezalel, the Great Rabbi Löw, whose name is connected with the legend of the Golem. From time to time he interrupted his quiet life in Prague and travelled the long route to Westphalia. He died in Prague on August 25th, 1613.a
David Gans appears to have been, at that epoch, the first Jewish scientist in Central Europe who had a liking and aptitude for astronomy, geography and history. No wonder he was proud of being a personal friend of Tycho Brahe's, and of his friendly relation with Johannes Kepler. We shall revert to that later.
He also refers to his relations with Johann Müller (mentioned in nearly all his biographies). This was not of course the famous astronomer Johannes Müller from Königsberg, named Regiomontanus (as mentioned in some biographies), who lived more than a century earlier but one of Tycho's assistants (see Dreyer [18]). Tycho Brahe became acquainted with him at Hveen in...