Levi

Levi ben Gerson

Born: 1288 in Bagnols, Gard, France
Died: 1344

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Levi ben Gerson wrote Book of Numbers in 1321 dealing with arithmetical operations, including extraction of roots. Also, in 1342, he wrote On Sines, Chords and Arcs which examined trigonometry, in particular proving the sine theorem for plane triangles and giving 5 figure sin tables.

One year later, at the request of the bishop of Meaux, he wrote The Harmony of Numbers which is a commentary on the first 5 books of Euclid.

He also invented Jacob's staff, an instrument to measure the angular distance between celestial objects. His other work was philosophical and he wrote complex Biblical commentaries.

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. B R Goldstein, Preliminary Remarks on Levi ben Gerson's Contributions to Astronomy, Proc. Israel Acad. Sci. Humanities 3 (1969), 239-254.
  3. N L Rabinovitch, Rabbi Levi Ben Gershon and the Origins of Mathematical Induction, Archive for History of Exact Sciences 6 (1970), 237- . 
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JOC/EFR February 1996