Modern Math in Ancient Babylon
With the advent of modern home computers and smartphones (yes, those are also computers), it may be tempting to smirk at slide rules that were essential for computing. Those began to be invented in the fifteenth century, and were vital for the Apollo moon landings. There was a scene in Apollo 13 where a supervisor announced a problem and scientists whipped out their slide rules and began calculating. Although they did not have a computing device like a slide rule, the folks of Old Babylon knew sophisticated computing way back when. RGBStock / Sanja Gjenero One of my favorite activities when riding the dusty trail is right after setting up camp and getting the fire going, is to read cuneiform tablets in the Sumerian languages. Not everybody is into that, apparently. A tablet was dug up in 1894 and it took over a hundred years for people to tell them of its importance. Eventually, a mathematician came along and noticed that it involved advanced mathematics in Old Babylon....