David Gans (Hebrew: דָּוִד בֶּן שְׁלֹמֹה גנז; ‎1541–1613), also known as Rabbi Dovid Solomon Ganz, was a Jewish chronicler, mathematician, historian, astronomer and astrologer.

They introduced philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy into the circle of their studies, and from them Gans received the impulse to devote himself to these branches of science.

He lived for a time in Nordheim (where he studied Euclid), passed several years in his native city of Lippstadt, and then in about 1564 settled in Prague.

The author consulted the writings of Cyriacus Spangenberg, Laurentius Faustus, Hubertus Holtzius, Georg Cassino, and Martin Borisk for the second part of his work.

[2] modern day translations also include English (1966, Hornier[5] and Czech (2016, Šedinová)[6] Gans was also the author of: Gebulat ha-Eretz, a work on cosmography, which is in all probability identical to the Zurat ha-Eretz, published in Constantinople under the name of "David Avazi" ("avaz" means "goose" in Hebrew, a reference to the surname "Gans", which means "goose" in Yiddish); Magen David, an astronomical treatise, a part of which is included in the Nechmad ve'naim mentioned below; the mathematical works Ma'or ha-Ḳatan, Migdal David, and Prozdor, which are no longer in existence; Nechmad ve'naim dealing with astronomy and mathematical geography, published with additions by Joel ben Jekuthiel of Glogau at Jessnitz, 1743.