Medieval Jewish philosopher and physician, also knowns as Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, or Rambam. Maimonides is considered to be the greatest Jewish scholar and philosopher of the Middle Ages. He had a more powerful impact on Jewish tradition than any other human being. In 1180, Maimonides completed the Mishneh Torah, the first code of Jewish law. The Mishneh Torah, a fourteen volume work, includes sections on astronomy, as well as on medicine and metaphysics. Maimonides’ main contribution to astronomy was a complete rejection of astrology. In a letter written to a group of rabbis in southern France in 1194, Maimonides said that he had studied astrology, and that it did not deserve to be called a science. Maimonides argued that man should believe only what can be supported either by rational proof, by the evidence of the senses, or by trustworthy authority. He claimed that the idea that a man’s fate could depend on the constellations is ridiculous; such a theory would rob life of its purpose and make human beings slaves to destiny.