Details

Subject(s)

• Mathematics, Ancient—Iraq—History [Browse]
• Mathematics—Iraq—History [Browse]

Summary note

This monumental book traces the origins and development of mathematics in the ancient Middle East, from its earliest beginnings in the fourth millennium BCE to the end of indigenous intellectual culture in the second century BCE when cuneiform writing was gradually abandoned. Eleanor Robson offers a history like no other, examining ancient mathematics within its broader social, political, economic, and religious contexts, and showing that mathematics was not just an abstract discipline for elites but a key component in ordering society and understanding the world. The region of modern-day Iraq is uniquely rich in evidence for ancient mathematics because its prehistoric inhabitants wrote on clay tablets, many hundreds of thousands of which have been archaeologically excavated, deciphered, and translated. Drawing from these and a wealth of other textual and archaeological evidence, Robson gives an extraordinarily detailed picture of how mathematical ideas and practices were conceived, used, and taught during this period. She challenges the prevailing view that they were merely the simplistic precursors of classical Greek mathematics, and explains how the prevailing view came to be. Robson reveals the true sophistication and beauty of ancient Middle Eastern mathematics as it evolved over three thousand years, from the earliest beginnings of recorded accounting to complex mathematical astronomy. Every chapter provides detailed information on sources, and the book includes an appendix on all mathematical cuneiform tablets published before 2007.

Notes

• This book has been composed in Sabon and Swiss 721.
• Printed on acid-free paper.
• Printed in the United States of America.

Bibliographic references

Includes bibliographical references (pages [373]-407) and indexes.

Source of description

Description based on: online resource; title from pdf title page (ACLS Humanities, viewed January 12, 2021).

Language note

In English.

Contents

• Front matter
• CONTENTS
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter One. Scope, Methods, Sources
• Chapter Two. Before the Mid-Third Millennium
• Chapter Three. The Later Third Millennium
• Chapter Four. The Early Second Millennium
• Chapter Five. Assyria
• Chapter Six. The Later Second Millennium
• Chapter Seven. The Early First Millennium
• Chapter Eight. The Later First Millennium
• Chapter Nine. Epilogue
• Appendix A: Metrological Systems
• Appendix B: Published Mathematical Tablets
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index of Tablets
• Subject Index

Show 18 more Contents items

ISBN

0-691-20140-4

LCCN

2007041758

OCLC

• 1191863676
• 1443488348

Doi

• 10.1515/9780691201405

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