Abraham Zacuto (אברהם זכות) (portuguese: Abraão ben Samuel Zacuto) was a Spanish astronomer, mathematician and historian who served as Royal Astronomer in the 15th Century to King John II of Portugal. An astronomer or astrophysicist is a scientist whose area of research is astronomy or astrophysics. ... Leonhard Euler is considered by many people to be one of the greatest mathematicians of all time A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study and research is mathematics. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... John II of Portugal João II of Portugal (Portuguese pron. ...

Life

Zacuto was born in Salamanca, Spain circa 1450. He studied astronomy at the University of Salamanca and taught there as well. He later was for a time teacher of astronomy at the universities of Zaragoza and then Cartagena. He was versed in Jewish Law, and was rabbi of his community. Salamanca: Plaza Mayor Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Salamanca Salamanca (population 157,906 (2003)) is a castilian city in central Spain, the capital of the province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile-Leon. ... Events March - French troops under Guy de Richemont besiege the English commander in France, Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, in Caen April 15 - Battle of Formigny. ... Radio telescopes are among many different tools used by astronomers Astronomy (Greek: αστρονομία = άστρον + νόμος, astronomia = astron + nomos, literally, law of the stars) is the science of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the Earths atmosphere, such as stars, planets, comets, auroras, galaxies, and the cosmic background radiation. ... The University of Salamanca (Spanish Universidad de Salamanca), located in the town of Salamanca, west-northwest of Madrid, is the second oldest university in Spain (the first one is the university of Palencia, now disappeared), and one of the oldest in Europe. ... Zaragoza (formerly Saragossa in English; Latin Caesaraugusta) is the capital city of the autonomous region and former kingdom of Aragon in Spain, and is located on the river Ebro, and its tributaries the Huerva and Gállego, near the centre of the region, in a great valley with a variety... For other places of the same name, see Cartagena. ... Halakha (Hebrew: הלכה; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halakhot and Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law as well as customs and traditions. ... Rabbi (Classical Hebrew רִבִּי ribbī;; modern Ashkenazi and Israeli רַבִּי rabbī) in Judaism, means teacher, or more literally great one. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root-word RaV, which in biblical Hebrew means great or distinguished, (in knowledge). In the ancient Judean schools (and among Sefaradim today) the sages...

With the general expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, Zacuto took refuge in Lisbon, Portugal. Already famous in academic circles, he was invited to court and nominated Royal Astronomer and Historian by King João II, a position which he held until the early reign of Manuel I. He was consulted by the King on the possibility of a sea route to India, a project which he supported and encouraged. Zacuto would be one of the few who managed to flee Portugal during the forced conversions and prohibitions of departure that Manuel I enacted, in order to keep the Jews in Portugal as nominal Christians for foreign policy reasons. Alhambra Decree was issued in 1492 by the Catholic monarchs, (Isabella of Castile married to Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1469), of Spain, following the final triumph over the Moors after the fall of Granada. ... 1492 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... District or region Lisbon Mayor   - Party Carmona Rodrigues PSD Area 84. ... John II of Portugal João II of Portugal (Portuguese pron. ... Manuel I of Portugal (pron. ...

He died in the Ottoman Empire, to where he had escaped, c.1510. Imperial motto (Ottoman Turkish) دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power (1683) Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital Söğüt (1299-1326), Bursa (1326-1365), Edirne (1365-1453), İstanbul (1453-1922) Imperial anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Sovereigns Padishah of the Osmanl... 1510 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Work

Abraham Zacuto perfected the Astrolabe, which only then became an instrument of precision, and he was the author of the highly accurate astronomical tables that were used by ship captains to determine the position of their portuguese caravel in high seas, through calculations on data acquired with an Astrolabe. His contributions were undoubtedly valuable in saving the lives of portuguese seamen, and allowing them to reach Brazil and India. A 16th century astrolabe. ... A caravel is a small, highly maneuverable, three-masted ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish for long voyages of exploration beginning in the 15th century. ... A 16th century astrolabe. ...

While in Spain he wrote an exceptional treatise on astronomy in Hebrew, with the title Ha-jibbur Ha-gadol. He published in the printing press of Leiria in 1496, property of Abraão de Ortas the book Biur Luhoth, or in latin Almanach Perpetuum, which was soon translated in latin and spanish. In this book were the astronomical tables for the years 1497 to 1500, which were instrumental, together with the new astrolabe made of metal and not wood as before, to Vasco da Gama and Pedro Álvares Cabral in their voyages to India and Brazil respectively. Hebrew (עִבְרִית ‘Ivrit) is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Jewish communities around the world. ... Coat of Arms Leiria (pron. ... 1496 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... 1497 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1500 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama (IPA: ; born c. ... Pedro Álvares Cabral Pedro Álvares Cabral Pedro Álvares Cabral (c. ...

In 1504, while in Tunisia, he wrote a History of the Jewish People, Sefer Hayuhasin, since the Creation of the World until 1500, and several other astronomical treatises. The History was greatly respected and was reprinted in Cracow in 1581, at Amsterdam in 1717, and at Königsberg in 1857, while a complete edition was published by Filipowski in London in 1857. 1504 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Creation according to Genesis refers to the description of the creation of the heavens and the earth by God, as described in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. ...

External links

• Short biography of Rabbi Abraham Zacuto
• JewishEncyclopedia