Jacob ben Machir ibn Tibbon


Jacob ben Machir ibn Tibbon, of the Ibn Tibbon family, also known as Prophatius.
Provençal, Jewish astronomer; born, probably at Marseilles, about 1236; died at Montpellier about 1304. He was a grandson of Samuel ben Judah ibn Tibbon. His Provençal name was Don Profiat Tibbon; the Latin writers called him Profatius Judæus. Jacob occupies a considerable place in the history of astronomy in the Middle Ages. His works, translated into Latin, were quoted by Copernicus, Reinhold, and Clavius. He was also highly reputed as a physician, and, according to Jean Astruc, Ibn Tibbon was regent of the faculty of medicine of Montpellier.
In the controversy between the Maimonists and the anti-Maimonists, Jacob defended science against the attacks of Abba Mari and his party; the energetic attitude of the community of Montpellier on that occasion was due to his influence.
Jacob became known by a series of Hebrew translations of Arabic scientific and philosophical works, and above all by two original works on astronomy. His translations are:
  1. the Elements of Euclid, divided into fifteen chapters;
  2. the treatise of Qusta ibn Luqa on the armillary sphere, in sixty-five chapters;
  3. Sefer ha-Mattanot, the Data of Euclid;
  4. a treatise of Autolycus on the sphere in movement;
  5. three treatises on the sphere of Menelaus of Alexandria;
  6. Ma'amar bi-Tekunah, or Sefer 'al Tekunah, in forty-four chapters;
  7. a treatise on the use of the astrolabe
  8. compendium of the Almagest of Ptolemy
  9. Iggeret ha-Ma'aseh be-Luaḥ ha-Niḳra Sofiḥah,
  10. preface to Abraham bar Ḥiyya's astronomical work;
  11. an extract from the Almagest on the arc of a circle;
  12. "Ḳiẓẓur mi-Kol Meleket Higgayon," Averroes' compendium of the Organon ;
  13. Averroes' paraphrase of books xi–xix of Aristotle's history of animals;
  14. Mozene ha-'Iyyunim, from Ghazali, including also a large part deriving from the Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity.
The two original works of Jacob are: a description of the astronomical instrument called the quadrant, in sixteen chapters, the last of which shows how to construct this instrument. This was translated several times into Latin; astronomical tables, beginning with 1 March 1300. These tables were translated into Latin and enjoyed great repute.