José Vizinho, (also known in English as ''Joseph Vecinho''), was a Portuguese Jew, born in the town of Covilhã, court physician and scientist at the end of the fifteenth century. He was a pupil of

Abraham Zacuto Abraham Zacuto ( he, , translit=Avraham ben Shmuel Zacut, pt, Abraão ben Samuel Zacuto; 12 August 1452 – ) was a Castilian astronomer, astrologer, mathematician, rabbi and historian who served as Royal Astronomer to King John II of Portugal. ...

, with whom he studied mathematics and cosmography, and was regarded as an authority on the subject by King John II of Portugal. He was sent by the king to the Gulf of Guinea in 1483, to measure the altitude of the sun, using an

astrolabe An astrolabe ( grc, ἀστρολάβος ; ar, ٱلأَسْطُرلاب ; persian, ستاره‌یاب ) is an ancient astronomical instrument that was a handheld model of the universe. Its various functions also make it an elaborate inclin ...

improved by

Jacob ben Machir Jacob ben Machir ibn Tibbon ( he, יעקב בן מכיר ׳ן תיבון), of the Ibn Tibbon family, also known as Prophatius, was a Jewish astronomer; born, probably at Marseilles, about 1236; died at Montpellier about 1304. He was a grandson of ...

. This was one of several voyages that resulted in the production of detailed maps of areas of the eastern Atlantic that had been unknown to Europeans until then. In 1484, Christopher Columbus presented his plans to the king for a western route to the Indies, which was evaluated by a committee of experts headed by Martin Behaim and "Mestre José", as José Vizinho was called, and also including the Bishop of Ceuta, the court physician Rodrigo, and a Jewish mathematician named Moisés. The Committee finally decided against Columbus' plans to sail west across the Atlantic to the Indies, correctly judging that Columbus had seriously underestimated the size of the world. When the matter came up before the council of state,

Pedro de Menezes Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning " ...

opposed them also, basing his arguments on José Vizinho's criticisms. Although Vizinho had not favored Columbus' plan, Columbus interacted with him, and obtained a translation of Zacuto's astronomical tables from him. Columbus carried this translation with him on his voyage, and found it extremely useful; it was found in his library after his death. José Vizinho's translation of Zacuto's tables was published by the Jewish printer

Samuel d'Ortas Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...

Leiria Leiria (; cel-x-proto, ɸlāryo) is a city and municipality in the Central Region of Portugal. It is the 2nd largest city in that same region, with a municipality population of 128,640 (as of 2021) in an area of . It is the seat of its own distr ...

under the title "Almanach Perpetuum," 1496.

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