Astronomy in Babylonia was one of the first moments in history which gave evidence to the strong use of mathematical theory, before this it was believed that the earth was surrounded by a great mass on to which the stars were attached. Magic, mysticism and the heavens was a huge influence on astronomy of those times. However, around 400BC mathematics began to play a crucial role in determining lunar and solar theories as well as planetary movement. Epping and Kugler were two scholars who having discovered ancient tablets dating back to Babylonian times in the British museum, dedicated their lives to deciphering the tablets and without their commitment thousands of tablets containing information and data would still be concealed and an important part of Babylonians history of astronomy would remain undiscovered in museums and libraries all over the world.
Around 300 of the tablets recovered contain mathematical astronomy however, it has been estimated about a thousand more tablets copied by Pinches and Sachs (1900-1955) containing qualitative astronomical descriptions have added to these texts. The lunar theory appears to be the most predominant area of Babylonian astronomy with over half the texts relating to the subject. The Babylonian calendar was thought to be truly lunar, meaning they based their months, beginning on the first visibility of the new crescent and subsequently, their days began in the evening at first visibility. Furthermore, the Babylonians observed decades of eclipses and they had knowledge that solar eclipses only occurred at the end of the month at the new crescent and lunar eclipses occur only at full moon. Cycles were used by the Babylonians which consisted of 12, sometimes 13 months depending on the harves...
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... in the early 20th Century. Kugler’s work ‘Babylonische Mondrechnung’ (1900) was the first publication to contain procedure texts and it remains the most important procedure text for the lunar system A, to this day. Moving on to phase two of the development into deciphering the Babylonian tablets came with Otto Neugebauer (1899-1990). Neugebauer spent twenty years interpreting and analysing the tablets and created the Astronomical Cuneiform Texts in 1995), the first standard edition of the corpus of mathematical astronomy. These procedure texts contain 108 tablets and fragments, including all published and unpublished tablets and fragments from the British Museum. Sachs and Schaumberger discovered the latest astronomical texts with the date of 75 AD. These theories proved to be of the highest level of mathematical nature, analogous to the equivalent Greek systems.
The ancient Babylonian calendar was rather similar to our modern calendar today. All together, the Babylonian calendar had a total of 12
In document C, Ptolemy had a theory where the Earth was the center of the Solar System. Other scientists also had this theory when they were examining the stars and Earth's rotation. But other scientists figured out that the Sun was the center of the Solar System instead of Earth. Document D shows the zodiacs and how the stars lining up. These documents show how advance the people in the Renaissance were. Ptolemy and Copernicus were very advanced as well when they had their theories on the Solar System. Also when they would use the stars and constellations for the zodiac symbolizations (Doc
The ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt are a factor of the evolution of civilizations in present-day. Though, it wouldn’t occur if both of these ancient civilizations didn’t develop into successful ones. There are three similar components that led Ancient Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia to become prosperous. These are the locations, their way of life, and their beliefs. All of these elements will be explored more thoroughly throughout this essay.
Clarke, Leonard W.‘Greek Astronomy and Its Debt to the Babylonians' The British Journal for the History of Science, Vol. 1, No. (Cambridge University Press. 1962)
Geography plays an important role in the development of a civilization. The impact of geography can either make or break a civilization. Early civilizations inhabited features such as river valleys, deserts, rainforests, plateaus and other geographical structures. One important geographically defining structure are river valleys . River valleys had a significant impact on one particular civilization, Mesopotamia.
The ancient Egyptians and Babylonians discovered abstract Geometry. They developed these ideas that were used to build pyramids and help with reestablishing land boundaries. While, the Babylonians used abstract geometry for measuring, construction buildings, and surveying. Abstract geometry uses postulates, rules, definitions and propositions before and up to the time of the Euclid.
During the Mesopotamia and Egypt times the writing systems were both similar by representing with pictures, this system was conveyed by anything other than simple nouns, and became increasingly abstract as it becomes more of an abstract concept. Cuneiform was the world’s earliest writing that was created by the Mesopotamia’s in Sumer. Cuneiform was known to develop between 3,300 and 3,200 BCE. The writing system function was both phonetically and semantically, rather than representing only from the pictures.
The code of Hammurabi was one of the most important documents in Babylon history. It was adopted from many Sumerian customs that had been around for a while before the Babylonians. Though many of the Laws were adopted from Sumeria they were published by Hammurabi and thus known as the code of Hammurabi. This code had four main parts to it. They were: Civil Laws, Commercial Laws, Penal Laws, and the Law of procedures.
It is no mystery that without the Ancient Greeks, math as we know it today would not be the same. It is mind blowing to think that people who had no access to our current technology and resources are the ones who came up with the basic principles of the mathematics that we learn and use today without any preceding information on the topic. One of the best examples of such a person is Archimedes. Not only did he excel as a physicist, inventor, engineer, and astronomer, but he is still known today as one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. His contributions to the field laid out many of the basics for what we learn today and his brilliance shocked many. Long after his time, mathematicians were still stumped as to how he reached the genius conclusions that he did. Nicknamed “The Wise One,” Archimedes is a person who can never be forgotten.
Astronomy is a very important field in science. Ancient Greece, China, and India all contributed to our everyday ideas and uses of astronomy. Ancient Greece was the most influential because the Indian’s based most of their astronomy off of Greece. The Greeks created calendars that were based off of the eclipse cycle, which they called by two different names, Hellenic Calendars and Lunisolar Calendars. Because of Ancient Greece, we now have calendars to keep us on track every day. The Greeks observed a celestial object passing through the eastern and western morning sky. After a long time of observations, they came to a realization that it was a planet and now that is the planet is well known as Venus. (Sarton, 75) Plato and Aristotle’s theories were incredible contributions on us today. Both of their theories were all about the behavior and life of the planets, such as their theory that the earth is spherical. (Sarton, 421). Ancient Greece als...
Since the first Egyptian farmers discovered the annual reappearance of Sirius just before dawn a few days before the yearly rising of the Nile, ancient civilizations around the Mediterranean have sought to explain the movements of the heavens as a sort of calendar to help guide them conduct earthly activities. Counting phases of the moon or observing the annual variations of day length could, after many years' collection of observations, serve as vital indicators for planting and harvesting times, safe or stormy season for sailing, or time to bring the flocks from winter to summer pastures. With our millennia of such observation behind us, we sometimes forget that seeing and recording anything less obvious than the rough position of sun or nightly change of moon phase requires inventing both accurate observation tools (a stone circle, a gnomon used to indicate the sun's shadow, a means to measure the position of stars in the sky) and a system of recording that could be understood by others. The ancient Greeks struggled with these problems too, using both native technology and inquiry, and drawing upon the large body of observations and theories gradually gleaned from their older neighbors across the sea, Egypt and Babylonia. Gradually moving from a system of gods and divine powers ordering the world to a system of elements, mathematics, and physical laws, the Greeks slowly adapted old ideas to fit into a less supernatural, hyper-rational universe.
Astronomy dates back to ancient times when peoples such as the Babylonians, Egyptians, and Chinese kept written records of astronomical events and occurrences. Today’s seven day week originates from the Babylonians’ seven important bodies in the night sky: the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. The ancient Egyptians used the stars to align their pyramids and many of their corridors in almost perfect north-south or east-west directions. The Chinese were experts at predicting solar eclipses. They believed that a solar eclipse was a dangerous warning. Chinese astronomers were executed if they failed to predict an eclipse.
They constructed the 12-month calendar which they based on the cycles of the moon. Other than that, they also created a mathematical system based on the number 60 which they called the Sexagesimal. Though, our mathematics today is not based on their system it acts like a foundation for some mathematicians. They also used the basic mathematics- addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, in keeping track of their records- one of their contributions to this world, bookkeeping. It was also suggested that they even discovered the number of the pi for they knew how to solve the circumference of the circle (Atif, 2013).
The history of math has become an important study, from ancient to modern times it has been fundamental to advances in science, engineering, and philosophy. Mathematics started with counting. In Babylonia mathematics developed from 2000B.C. A place value notation system had evolved over a lengthy time with a number base of 60. Number problems were studied from at least 1700B.C. Systems of linear equations were studied in the context of solving number problems.
Where did astronomy originate? According to the Department of Astronomy, the earliest people to keep astronomical records where the Akkadians (they lived in what is later known as the northern part of Babylon). The earliest date is from around 2,500 B.C. The ancient Akkadian priests were the first to record these astronomical records. They recorded these records because it helped them predict some of the Sun’s motions, and the Earth’s moons, and the stars. These records included observations of the daily, monthly, and yearly positions of the stars and planets. These records explained the geographical locations of the planets. The records also helped with them being able to judge when to plant and harvest crops and with religious ceremonies.