Mathematician reveals world's oldest example of applied geometry

[Jim__]

From phys.org:

...

"It is generally accepted that trigonometry—the branch of maths that is concerned with the study of triangles—was developed by the ancient Greeks studying the night sky in the second century BCE," says Dr. Mansfield.

"But the Babylonians developed their own alternative 'proto-trigonometry' to solve problems related to measuring the ground, not the sky."

The tablet revealed today is thought to have existed even before Plimpton 322—in fact, surveying problems likely inspired Plimpton 322.

"There is a whole zoo of right triangles with different shapes. But only a very small handful can be used by Babylonian surveyors. Plimpton 322 is a systematic study of this zoo to discover the useful shapes," says Dr. Mansfield.

more ...

[yonder]

1. Thanks for this. Fascinating reading at the link.

[reACTIONary]

2. Here is a link to the research paper...

.... it's open access. Has good hi-res pictures of both tablets

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10699-021-09806-0

[SeattleVet]

4. Thanks!

I always try to seek out the original papers when reading articles like this.

[reACTIONary]

5. The topic of the news article...

.... Si.427 is only incidentally covered in the paper. Si.427 is covered specifically and in detail in a previous paper:

Perpendicular Lines and Diagonal Triples in Old Babylonian Surveying
Daniel F. Mansfield
Journal of Cuneiform Studies 2020 72:, 87-99

https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/709309#

Unfortunately, this is not open source, it's behind a paywall. Because of where I work, it is easy for me to get access, but I don't have any way to share it.

[SeattleVet]

6. No problem...

I use sci-hub, which finds 'open access' portals to most DOI's, so I was able to grab that paper, too.

[reACTIONary]

7. That's great! I'm going to have to look into sci-hub! nt

[burrowowl]

3. Hit more and enjoy!

[llashram]

8. Timbuktu

FIRST great university with studies in mathematics, astronomy etc...period. Many great minds, all races all cultures passed through, studied there.

[aggiesal]

9. Thank you for posting ...

Being a math geek, I was smiling through the 3+ minute video.
Went by way too fast.

Very impressed by history in general, but math history is very cool.