G.M.F.W. Mededelingen
Aankondiging lezing Dr. Eleanor Robson
Dit bericht werd op 7 juni 2001 verzonden aan alle leden van wie op dat
moment een electronisch postadres bekend was.
Geacht GMFW-lid,
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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)