ABSTRACTS
of the talks by dr. Eleanor Robson
Groningen, 3-II and 5-II 1998
Dr. Eleanor Robson (Oriental Institute, University of Oxford)
New Approaches to Old Babylonian Mathematics: a Case Study
Tuesday February 3, 1998 16.15 - 17.15 uur
Groningen, Instituut Wiskunde en Informatica (Blauwborgje 3), zaal RC 150.
Abstract
The nearly 4,000-year-old lump of mud called Plimpton 322 is undoubtedly
the most famous mathematical tablet from Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). Since
its publication in 1945 it has been discussed in the 'Babylonian' chapter
of almost every general history of mathematics and in many specialist
works. There have been two main schools of interpretation: either that it
is a sophisticated listing of so-called Pythagorean triples (dating to
some 1,500 years before the supposed date of Pythagoras), or that it is an
even more breath-taking trigonometric table (from around two millennia
before angle measurement developed in the Classical world). In this talk I
show how new scholarly approaches to Mesopotamian mathematics over the
last decade, particularly to technical language and conceptual content,
enable Plimpton 322 to be viewed not as a freakish anomaly in the history
of early mathematics but as the epitome of Mesopotamian mathematical
culture at its best.
Dr. Eleanor Robson (Oriental Institute, University of Oxford)
Mathematics from Mesopotamia
Thursday Februari 5, 1998 15.15 uur
Groningen, COMERS gebouw (Oude Boteringestraat 23), zaal 1.
Abstract
In the late eighties research in Mesopotamian mathematics entered a
new phase. The focus shifted from the contents and magnitude of the
early mathematical knowledge to the 'how' and 'why' of this
knowledge. How did Mesopotamians approach mathematical
problems, and what was the role of these problems in Mesopotamian
society? We could call this an anthropology of mathematics.
Dr. Eleanor Robson has made an important contribution to this new
direction in the history of Mesopotamian mathematics in her
dissertation Old Babylonian Coefficient Lists and the Wider Context
of Mathematics in Ancient Mesopotamia, 2100-1600 BC (forthcoming
soon at the Oxford University Press). The lecture is open to all
interested. No mathematical knowledge will be presumed.