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Geometry engravings found on Old Babylonian tablet force re-evaluation of other tablets of the era, with Australian scientist saying it shows the ‘society has reached a particular level of mathematical sophistication’.
Old Babylonian tablet likely used for surveying uses Pythagorean triples at least 1,000 years before Pythagoras
An Australian mathematician has discovered what may be the oldest known example of applied geometry, on a 3,700-year-old Babylonian clay tablet.
Known as Si.427, the tablet bears a field plan measuring the boundaries of some land.
The tablet dates from the Old Babylonian period between 1900 and 1600 BCE and was discovered in the late 19th century in what is now Iraq. It had been housed in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum before Dr Daniel Mansfield from the University of New South Wales tracked it down.
Mathematician Finds Pythagorean Triples On Ancient Babylonian Tablet
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This Ancient Tablet Secretly Held The Oldest Evidence Of Applied Geometry In The World
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GoodsHomeDesign Posted December 24, 2020 12:24am UTC by designer
The ancient Babylonian tablet, known as Plimpton 322 was discovered by Edgar K. Banks, who later became the inspiration for the Indiana Jones movie series. The tablet discovered in Iraq almost 100 years ago, is made of clay and thought to be 3,700-year-old. Banks sold it to George Plimpton for $10 but now the significance of the tablet and its importance to mathematics is started to become more clear.
Two professors from the University of New South Wales, have worked on cracking the code and learned that trigonometry was discovered not by Greeks, but by ancient Babylonians and the numbers of the Plimpton 322 are part of a trigonometric table. It is believed to be the foundation of trigonometry that uses ratios and not angles or circles. It is the work of pure genius and sheds a light on other ancient Babylonian tablets discovered by archaeologists.