David Gans דוד גאנז
compiler of Tzemach David; he observed the stars with Tycho Brahe and Kepler
Born in Lippstadt, he studied in Bonn, Frankfurt am Main and Kraków, and about 5324 settled in Prague—the city of the Maharal.
Tzemach David. Published in Prague in 5352. It is divided in two: the first part a Jewish chronicle, the second a general one. That is what makes it remarkable: he set the two reckonings side by side and let the reader see what was happening among his own people and among others in the same years.
The stars. He became acquainted with Kepler and Tycho Brahe and took part for three days running in observations at the Prague observatory. Brahe charged him with translating the Alfonsine Tables from Hebrew into German.
A man for whom the reckoning of time and the reckoning of the stars were one occupation.
On the timeline
Places
Related
Sources
Acharonim and later rabbinic literature
- Tzemach David, Prague 5352 — the chronicle's two parts — Jewish and general
Scholarship
- Encyclopaedia Judaica, “Gans, David” — the years, Prague, the acquaintance with Brahe and Kepler
Basis: documents and evidence.