Abraham Zacuto
Abraham Zacuto · Science & Medicine
Astronomer and mathematician; his astronomical tables and improved astrolabe guided Portuguese and Spanish navigators including Vasco da Gama and Columbus
c. 1452, Salamanca, Spain — c. 1515, Damascus, Ottoman Syria
Spain · Portugal · North Africa · Ottoman Levant
Abraham Zacuto is recognized among Jewish contributors to Science & Medicine — Astronomer and mathematician; his astronomical tables and improved astrolabe guided Portuguese and Spanish navigators including Vasco da Gama and Columbus
Abraham Zacuto was a Sephardic Jewish astronomer, mathematician and rabbi whose 'Almanach Perpetuum' and improved copper astrolabe gave sailors reliable tables of solar declination and celestial positions. Portuguese and Spanish navigators — reportedly including Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus — relied on his data for open-ocean voyages. Expelled from Spain in 1492 and later from Portugal, he continued his work in North Africa and the Ottoman lands. He was an observant Jew and rabbinic scholar.
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Source: Jewish Encyclopedia
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Astronomer and mathematician; his astronomical tables and improved astrolabe guided Portuguese and Spanish navigators including Vasco da Gama and Columbus
Source: Jewish Encyclopedia
