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'[[Image:Delmedigo.jpg|right|thumb|From the frontispiece to his "Sefer Elim."]] '''Joseph Solomon Delmedigo''', also known as '''ישר מקנדיא''', ''Yashar Mi-qandia'' (June 16, 1591 &ndash; October 16, 1655) was a rabbi, author, physician, mathematician, and [[music theory|music theorist]].<ref>A number of observations need to be made about his Hebrew name and nickname or acronym: According to the Hebrew Wikipedia the nickname is really an acronym, יש"ר מקנדיה, that includes both his two Hebrew initials, ''Yosef Shlomoh,'' and his profession, ''rofe'', i.e. physician. It is also a Hebrew pun, since ''Yashar'' means straight, as in "the straight [man] from Candia," or "straight from Candia." Likewise the Hebrew names to his works can be read as puns and riddles. The whole man is indeed a hard riddle to decypher. For example, his Latin name in the drawing/picture (reproduced above to the right) on the frontispiece of his only printed work gives the name simply as "Ioseph Del Medico 'Cretensis'," or "Joseph [of] the Physician [in Spanish/Portuguese], from Crete, Philosopher and Physician." It is hard to determine which of the two, the Hebrew name Delmedigo on the one hand, or the profession (Medico - Physician), on the other, existed in the first place, giving origin to the other.</ref><ref>The Hebrew title page to ''Sefer Elim'' gives his occupations specifically as a "complete/wholesome or official" (''shalem''; this may mean that he had some sort of official ''smicha'') rabbi, philosopher, physician, and "nobleman" (''aluf''). But the Latin legend in the drawing/picture also gives his age (''Aet.'' 37), and the year as 1628. That would mean he was really born in 1592? However, the Latin preface to the book specifically states: Amsterdam, published by Menasseh ben Israel, 1629. Again, the drawing/picture reproduced above is not in the Hebrew edition I am looking at, unfortunately, and the differences could also be due to changes in the Gregorian calendar that have taken place since. The overall dates seem to be close enough.</ref> Born in [[Heraklion|Candia]], [[Crete]], he moved to [[Padua]], Italy, throughout most Europe and north Africa, and finally died in [[Prague]]. Yet in his lifetime wherever he sojourned he earned his living as a physician and or teacher. His only known works are ''Elim'' (Palms), dealing with mathematics, astronomy, the natural sciences, and metaphysics, as well as some letters and essays. As Delmedigo writes in his book, he followed the lectures by [[Galileo Galilei]], during the academic year 1609-1610. In the following years he often refers to Galilei as "rabbi Galileo". ''Elim'' (1629, published by [[Menasseh ben Israel]], [[Amsterdam]]) is written in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], in response to 12 general and 70 specific religious and scientific questions sent to Delmedigo by a [[Karaite Judaism|Karaite]] Jew, Zerach ben Natan from Troki (Lithuania). The format of the book is taken from the number of fountains and palm trees at Elim in the [[Sinai Peninsula]], as given in [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]], xxxiii, 9: since there are 12 fountains and 70 palm trees at Elim, Delmedigo divided his book into twelve major problems and seventy minor problems. The subjects discussed include astronomy, physics, mathematics, medicine, and music theory. In the area of music, Delmedigo discusses the physics of music including string [[resonance]], [[interval (music)|interval]]s and their proportions, [[Consonance and dissonance|consonance]] and [[Consonance and dissonance|dissonance]]. Some parts of the book were as follows: *''Ma'ayan Chatum'' (Closed or Sealed Fountain - Heb. מעין חתום) is the second part of Sefer Elim, containing the 70 questions and answers. *''Ma'ayan Ganim'' (Fountain of the Gardens - Heb. מעין גנים) is a continuation of Sefer Elim, consisting of the following short treatises: on trigonometry, on the first two books of the [[Almagest]], on astronomy, on astronomical instruments, on [[Kabbalah]] (mainly the [[Isaac Luria|Ari]]) and the supernatural, on astrology, on algebra, on chemistry, on the aphorisms of [[Hippocrates]], on the opinion of the ancients concerning the substance of the heavens, on the astronomy of the ancients, who considered the motion of the higher spheres due to spirits (Delmedigo shows that their motion is similar to that of the earth), on the principles of religion, and mathematical paradoxes. *''Chukkot Shamayim'' is a part of Mayan Ganim dealing with the first two books of the [[Almagest]]. *''Gevurot Hashem'' is a treatise on astronomy. ==Descendants== Some of Delmedigo's descendants settled in [[Belarus|Byelorussia]] and took on the Surname Gorodinsky (after the town of Gorodin). A member of this family, Mordechai Gorodinsky (later hebraized to Nachmani) was one of the founders of the Israeli city of Rehovot. ==Notes== {{Reflist}} == References== * ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' (Jerusalem, 1972), Vol. 5, 1477-8 * Barzilay, Isaac, ''Yoseph Shlomoh Delmedigo (Yashar of Candia): His Life, Work and Times,'' Leiden, 1974 * [[Don Harrán]]. "Joseph Solomon Delmedigo", ''[[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|Grove Music Online]]'', ed. L. Macy (accessed February 5, 2005), [http://www.grovemusic.com/ grovemusic.com] (subscription access). ==External links== * [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=228&letter=D&search=delmedigo Jewish Encyclopedia article on Delmedigo (1906)] * [http://ha-historion.blogspot.com/2007/09/colorful-jewish-historical-figure.html The Gorodinsky Family] {{DEFAULTSORT:Delmedigo, Joseph Solomon}} [[Category:17th-century philosophers]] [[Category:Music theorists]] [[Category:1591 births]] [[Category:1655 deaths]] {{rabbi-stub}} [[de:Joseph Salomo Delmedigo]] [[he:יוסף שלמה דלמדיגו]] [[ru:Дельмедиго, Йосеф]] [[sl:Josip Salomon Delmedigo]]'