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A Portrait of Old Babylonian Algebra and Its Kin

Jens Hoyrup

400 pages, parution le 30/01/2002

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Résumé

In the 1920s it was recognized that Babylonian cuneiform texts included many mathematical texts. These were chiefly concerned with metrology and computation, but some also appeared to deal with algebra. In this new examination of the texts, Jens Hoyrup proposes an interesting interpretation of them based on the fact that the tablets are almost entirely students'workbooks. The knowledge of mathematics expressed in these tablets is entirely 'practical', for use in surveying, accounting, and building. Hoyrup argues that the notion of algebraic manipulation, like other parts of a theoretical mathematics is indeed a later invention. Craftsmen, he argues, prefer to know how to solve a problem, rather than why the answer will be true, and it is only the latter attitude that characterizes mathematics; the former is, perhaps, more akin to modern engineering. The book provides a detailed reading of many tablets and a careful examination of the context in which they were produced.

Contents

I. Introduction.
II. A New Reading.
III. Select Textual Examples.
IV. Methods.
V. Further "Algebraic" Texts.
VI. Quasi-Algebraic Geometry.
VII. Old Babylonian "Algebra": A Global Characterization.
VIII. The Historical Framework.
IX. The "Finer Structure" of the Old Babylonian Corpus.
X. The Origin and Transformations of Old Babylonian Algebra.
XI. Repercussions and Influences.
XII. Index of Tablets.
XIII. Index of Akkadian and Sumerian Terms and Key Phrases.
XIV. Name Index.
XV. Subject Index.
XVI. Abbreviations and Bibliography

Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	Springer
Auteur(s)	Jens Hoyrup
Parution	30/01/2002
Nb. de pages	400
Format	16 x 24
Couverture	Relié
Poids	863g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9780387953038
ISBN13	978-0-387-95303-8