Algebra in Cuneiform: Introduction to an Old Babylonian Geometrical Technique

This textbook analyzes a number of texts in "conformal translation," that is, a translation in which the same Babylonian term is always translated in the same way and, more importantly, in which different terms are always translated differently. Appendixes are provided for readers who are...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Jens Høyrup
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Edition Open Access 2017
Series:Textbooks 2: Max Planck Research Library for the History and Development of Knowledge
Subjects:
Online Access:
Collection: Directory of Open Access Books - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
LEADER 02178nma a2200253 u 4500
001 EB001970663
003 EBX01000000000000001133565
005 00000000000000.0
007 cr|||||||||||||||||||||
008 210512 ||| eng
020 |a 9783945561157 
100 1 |a Jens Høyrup 
245 0 0 |a Algebra in Cuneiform: Introduction to an Old Babylonian Geometrical Technique  |h Elektronische Ressource 
260 |b Edition Open Access  |c 2017 
300 |a 1 electronic resource (156 p.) 
653 |a MPRL 
653 |a Edition Open Access 
041 0 7 |a eng  |2 ISO 639-2 
989 |b DOAB  |a Directory of Open Access Books 
490 0 |a Textbooks 2: Max Planck Research Library for the History and Development of Knowledge 
500 |a Creative Commons (cc), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ 
856 4 2 |u https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/40631  |z DOAB: description of the publication 
856 4 0 |u http://edition-open-access.de/textbooks/2/index.html  |7 0  |x Verlag  |3 Volltext 
520 |a This textbook analyzes a number of texts in "conformal translation," that is, a translation in which the same Babylonian term is always translated in the same way and, more importantly, in which different terms are always translated differently. Appendixes are provided for readers who are familiar with basic Assyriology but otherwise philological details are avoided. All of these texts are from the second half of the Old Babylonian period, that is, 1800-1600 BCE. It is indeed during this period that the "algebraic" discipline, and Babylonian mathematics in general, culminates. Even though a few texts from the late period show some similarities with what comes from the Old Babylonian period, they are but remnants. Beyond analyzing texts, the book gives a general characterization of the kind of mathematics involved, and locates it within the context of the Old Babylonian scribe school and its particular culture. Finally, it describes the origin of the discipline and its impact in later mathematics, not least Euclid's geometry and genuine algebra as created in medieval Islam and taken over in European medieval and Renaissance mathematics.