G.M.F.W. Mededelingen
Aankondiging lezing Dr. Eleanor Robson

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Dit bericht werd op 7 juni 2001 verzonden aan alle leden van wie op dat moment een electronisch postadres bekend was.

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lezing door: Dr. Eleanor Robson (All Souls' College, Oxford)
Maths in the tablet house: mathematics education in the 18th century BC
Donderdag 21 juni 2001, 17.00--18.00 uur
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Instituut voor Wiskunde en Informatica, Blauwborgje 3, Zaal RC 150

Samenvatting:

The history of mathematics is much older than most people think. One and a half thousand years before Pythagoras and Euclid, a vigorous mathematical culture thrived in and around the kingdom of Babylon, in modern-day southern Iraq. But whereas we can attribute most classical Greek mathematics to named authors, we know almost nothing about the people who wrote the mathematics of ancient Iraq, why they wrote it, or how mathematics related to other aspects of their intellectual culture. We can make generalisations, but specific and detailed examples are needed too. Using a mixture of archaeology, history and mathematics I shall explore the position and role of mathematics in the curriculum of one small scribal school, which flourished in the city of Nippur in the mid-18th century BC.

Inlichtingen: Jan van Maanen (050-3637132, maanen@math.rug.nl)