Nechmad Vena’im [on astronomy, geography, as well as a rejection of astrology in Jewish tradition]

GANS, DAVID

Israel b. Abraham

Jessnitz

1743

FIRST EDITION. Title within architectural arch. Numerous astronomical diagrams. Lacking Latin introduction

Vinograd, Jessnitz 49; See A. Neher, Jewish Thought and the Scientific Revolution of the Sixteenth Century: David Gans (1541-1613) and His Times (1986), pp. 58-91

Gans was a disciple of R. Judah Löw of Prague. Scientific cooperation between Jewish and non-Jewish savants was unique to the Rudolfine era. The MaHaRa”L himself is said to have been invited to the Hradschin Palace to meet with Emperor Rudolph II, a most enlightened ruler, but the subject of their conversation remains a mystery. See Neher, pp. 6, 20 and 24