[sotd] June 4, 2002 [Babylonian Mathematics]

        Site of the Day for Tuesday, June 3, 2002

        Babylonian Mathematics

The List's non-mathematical gentle members need not be alarmed by today's
website from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland (founded in 1411).
This is a fascinating site complete with a map of ancient Babylonia and a
graphic of one of the Babylonian clay tablets

The site offers "an overview of Babylonian mathematics, Babylonian
numerals, Pythagoras's theorem in Babylonian mathematics and a history of
Zero. . . Perhaps the most amazing aspect of the Babylonian's calculating
skills was their construction of tables to aid calculation." - from the
website

Don't miss the link to the Babylonia numerals to see the clever way this
fabled people set up their numbering system. An equally riveting topic is
the history of Zero, a development which was not to find its way to western
Europe for hundreds of years.

Triangulate a path to the website for an intriguing look at a mathematical
system which still impacts our daily lives at:

http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Indexes/Babylonians.html


  A.M. Holm
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