Joseph Solomon Delmedigo

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Joseph Solomon Delmedigo (June 16, 1591 – October 16, 1655) was an author, physician, mathematician, and music theorist.

Born in 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, the natural sciences, and metaphysics, as well as some letters and essays.

Elim (1631, Amsterdam) is written in Hebrew. The format of the book is taken from the number of fountains and palm trees at Elim in the Sinai Peninsula, as given in 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, intervals and their proportions, consonance and dissonance.

[edit] References

Encylopaedia judaica (Jerusalem, 1972), Vol. 5, 1477-8
Don Harrán. "Joseph Solomon Delmedigo", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed February 5, 2005), grovemusic.com (subscription access).