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Levi ben Gerson's Astronomical Work: Chronology and Christian Context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

J. L. Mancha
J. L. Mancha
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Logic, and Philosophy of ScienceUniversity of Sevilla
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Abstract

Levi ben Gerson, also known as Gersonides or Leo de Balneolis, was one of the most original Jewish thinkers of the Middle Ages, and he wrote on logic, philosophy, biblical exegesis, mathematics, and astronomy. During the last years of his life he maintained relations with the papal court of Clement VI (1342–52) at Avignon, and collaborated in the translation into Latin of his Sefer Tekhuna (Book of Astronomy). The object of this paper is to establish the main stages of the redaction of the Hebrew and Latin extant versions of his astronomical work. Although Levi declares that the work was finished in 1328,1 argue that this text was the preliminary draft of the preserved one, most of which was composed after 1338. A thorough revision of the work was undertaken at an indeterminate date before 1344. It is also argued that the final form of the work was probably due to the request of solar and lunar tables made to Levi by “great and noble Christians” around 1332.

Type
Article
Information
Science in Context , Volume 10 , Issue 3 , Autumn 1997 , pp. 471 - 493
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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