Reply To: hashkofa help!

Peacemaker: All of that is interesting, but I think you’ll find most Rishonim say otherwise. In fact, you’ll find Gemara’s that say otherwise. The Gemara in Niddah (22) tells of chazal asking a doctor a question when they lacked sufficient knowledge. This implies two things:

(1) They trusted the doctor enough to rely on him for a shaila pertaining to Niddah (this is a little shocking)

(2) They didn’t know the scientific fact themselves, nor could they have derived it from the Torah, or they would have.

And by, “hafoch buh vihafoch buh ki kulah buh” the sforno points out that this doesn’t include science (he was a doctor, and went to medical school, or whatever medieval equivalent existed)