Solomon Gandz (2 February 1883,

Tarnobrzeg Tarnobrzeg is a city in south-eastern Poland (historic Lesser Poland), on the east bank of the river Vistula, with 49,419 inhabitants, as of 31 December 2009. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (Polish: ''Województwo podkarpackie'') since ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

– 30 March 1954) was a historian of science. Gandz published on the

history of mathematics The history of mathematics deals with the origin of discoveries in mathematics and the History of mathematical notation, mathematical methods and notation of the past. Before the modern age and the worldwide spread of knowledge, written examples ...

and

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

in medieval Jewish and Islamic civilizations. From 1915 to 1919, Gandz was professor of Jewish theology and

Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their Jewish peoplehood, nation, Judaism, religion, and Jewish culture, culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Jews originated from the Israelites and H ...

in the gymnasium and

realschule Real school (, ) is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), F ...

in Vienna. From 1923 to 1934, he was librarian and professor of Arabic and Medieval Hebrew at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

in New York. From 1942 until his death in March 1954, he was research professor of the history of Semitic Civilization at the Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania, (except for the war years when he was in government service). Selections from his collected works were published by KTAV Publishing House NY in 1970. "Studies in Hebrew Astronomy and Mathematics" by Solomon Gandz. Selected with an introduction by Professor

Shlomo Sternberg Shlomo Zvi Sternberg (January 20, 1936 – August 23, 2024) was an American mathematician known for his work in geometry, particularly symplectic geometry and Lie theory. He also wrote some well-known textbooks. Education and career Sternber ...

of Harvard. Among his major works is his annotated translation of

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

' Code "Sanctification of the New Moon" included in the Yale Judaica Series as well as his edition of Mishnat ha-Middot.

Works

* Gandz, S.: "The invention of the decimal fractions and the application of the exponential calculus by Immanuel Bonfils of Tarascon (c. 1350)",

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

25 (1936), 16–45. * Solomon Gandz: "Studies in Hebrew Astronomy and Mathematics" Selected with an introduction by Professor Shlomo Sternberg of Harvard. KTAV Publishing House NY 1970.

References

* Martin Levey,
Solomon Gandz, 1884-1954
, ''

'' Vol. 46, No. 2 (Jun., 1955), pp. 107–110 . 1883 births 1954 deaths 20th-century Austrian historians Jewish historians Historians of astronomy Historians of mathematics Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) People from Tarnobrzeg {{Austria-historian-stub

Works

See also

References