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Babylonian scholars may have invented Trigonometry

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  • Babylonian scholars may have invented Trigonometry

    Source: https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/26/16209080/ancient-clay-tablet-babylonian-math-trigonometry-archeology



    An ancient clay tablet shows that Babylonian scholars might have invented trigonometry

    A new interpretation into the nature of an ancient clay tablet known as Plimpton 322 claims that ancient Babylonians might have developed an advanced form of trigonometry — long before Greek mathematicians are commonly believed to have invented the concept.

    That’s the theory put forward by two mathematicians from the University of New South Wales, Daniel F. Mansfield and Norman Wildberger, who published their study in the latest issue of Historia Mathematica. They claim that the tablet demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of mathematics, and that modern assumptions of the field should be reexamined in light of the interpretation.

    The tablet in question is approximately five inches wide by three inch tall, and dates back to somewhere between 1822 and 1762 BCE. It was discovered by an American archeologist and diplomat named Edgar Banks in Larsa (what is now in southern Iraq) in the early 1920s. Banks sold the tablet to New York publisher George Arthur Plimpton, who later bequeathed it and his collection to Columbia University.

    © Copyright Original Source

    Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
    Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
    But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

    go with the flow the river knows . . .

    Frank

    I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

  • #2
    Yeah, I saw that the other day - I'm still ticked off at those guys for not being around when I had to take trig!
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    • #3
      Originally posted by Teallaura View Post
      Yeah, I saw that the other day - I'm still ticked off at those guys for not being around when I had to take trig!
      You just needed to learn base 60 math, and it would be easy as pie!
      Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
      Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
      But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

      go with the flow the river knows . . .

      Frank

      I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

      Comment


      • #4
        So now we know who to blame.
        Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
        1 Corinthians 16:13

        "...he [Doherty] is no historian and he is not even conversant with the historical discussions of the very matters he wants to pontificate on."
        -Ben Witherington III

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Raphael View Post
          So now we know who to blame.
          I actually enjoyed studying trig and calculus.
          "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

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          • #6
            Originally posted by shunyadragon View Post
            Source: https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/26/16209080/ancient-clay-tablet-babylonian-math-trigonometry-archeology



            An ancient clay tablet shows that Babylonian scholars might have invented trigonometry

            A new interpretation into the nature of an ancient clay tablet known as Plimpton 322 claims that ancient Babylonians might have developed an advanced form of trigonometry — long before Greek mathematicians are commonly believed to have invented the concept.

            That’s the theory put forward by two mathematicians from the University of New South Wales, Daniel F. Mansfield and Norman Wildberger, who published their study in the latest issue of Historia Mathematica. They claim that the tablet demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of mathematics, and that modern assumptions of the field should be reexamined in light of the interpretation.

            The tablet in question is approximately five inches wide by three inch tall, and dates back to somewhere between 1822 and 1762 BCE. It was discovered by an American archeologist and diplomat named Edgar Banks in Larsa (what is now in southern Iraq) in the early 1920s. Banks sold the tablet to New York publisher George Arthur Plimpton, who later bequeathed it and his collection to Columbia University.

            © Copyright Original Source

            That the ancient Babylonians knew of and employed some of the concepts of trigonometry is nothing new. See for example The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics by George Gheverghese Joseph not to mention it has long been suspected that the Babylonian clay tablet known as Plimpton 322 contains a trigonometrical table since R. Creighton Buck brought it up in 1980.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Teallaura View Post
              Yeah, I saw that the other day - I'm still ticked off at those guys for not being around when I had to take trig!
              I loved trig and I used it a a surveyor.
              Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

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              • #8
                dy5859e3df.gif

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
                  That the ancient Babylonians knew of and employed some of the concepts of trigonometry is nothing new. See for example The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics by George Gheverghese Joseph not to mention it has long been suspected that the Babylonian clay tablet known as Plimpton 322 contains a trigonometrical table since R. Creighton Buck brought it up in 1980.
                  The point of the article is that there is a more complete translation of tablet providing more details of the Babylonian knowledge of trigonometry. Yes, there is a bit of hype here, but nonetheless the improved translation showed how the Babylonian math developed trigonometry.

                  Most likely trigonometry and the similar math of early cultures developed over time through the engineering of their building methods.
                  Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
                  Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
                  But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

                  go with the flow the river knows . . .

                  Frank

                  I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Sparko View Post
                    [ATTACH=CONFIG]23853[/ATTACH]
                    that image is seriously messing with the migraine I currently have.
                    Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
                    1 Corinthians 16:13

                    "...he [Doherty] is no historian and he is not even conversant with the historical discussions of the very matters he wants to pontificate on."
                    -Ben Witherington III

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                    • #11
                      Just yesterday (8-28) on a radio talk show (Larry Elder) a guest mathematician Martin Magid, a professor of mathematics at Wellesley College, explained that the Babylonian clay tablet used what we call Pythagorean triples and a base 60 numbering system. That is what I had understood.

                      An image of the tablet. Plimpton_322.jpg
                      . . . the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; . . . -- Romans 1:16 KJV

                      . . . that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: . . . -- 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 KJV

                      Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: . . . -- 1 John 5:1 KJV

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                      • #12
                        Here is a link to a PDF about the tablet:
                        http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...n.pdf&_valck=1
                        . . . the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; . . . -- Romans 1:16 KJV

                        . . . that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: . . . -- 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 KJV

                        Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: . . . -- 1 John 5:1 KJV

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by 37818 View Post
                          Just yesterday (8-28) on a radio talk show (Larry Elder) a guest mathematician Martin Magid, a professor of mathematics at Wellesley College, explained that the Babylonian clay tablet used what we call Pythagorean triples and a base 60 numbering system. That is what I had understood.

                          An image of the tablet. [ATTACH=CONFIG]23867[/ATTACH]
                          It's like a Flintstone spreadsheet.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Sparko View Post
                            It's like a Flintstone spreadsheet.
                            Yeah. And it is not trig. It is a table of what we think of as Pythagorean triples but 100's of years before Pythagoras.
                            . . . the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; . . . -- Romans 1:16 KJV

                            . . . that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: . . . -- 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 KJV

                            Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: . . . -- 1 John 5:1 KJV

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by 37818 View Post
                              Yeah. And it is not trig. It is a table of what we think of as Pythagorean triples but 100's of years before Pythagoras.
                              It is generally accepted as primitive form of trig, probably developed in engineering buildings.
                              Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
                              Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
                              But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

                              go with the flow the river knows . . .

                              Frank

                              I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

                              Comment

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