MARC Record from marc_columbia

LEADER: 03646mam a22004214a 4500
001 3187089
005 20221020004055.0
008 010503t20022002nyua b 001 0 eng
010 $a 2001032839
020 $a0387953035 (alk. paper)
035 $a(OCoLC)ocm46951891
035 $9AUD1826CU
035 $a(NNC)3187089
035 $a3187089
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dC#P$dOHX$dOrLoB-B
042 $apcc
043 $aa-iq---
050 00 $aQA22$b.H83 2002
072 7 $aQA$2lcco
082 00 $a510/.935$221
100 1 $aHøyrup, Jens.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n84159519
245 10 $aLengths, widths, surfaces :$ba portrait of old Babylonian algebra and its kin /$cJens Høyrup.
260 $aNew York :$bSpringer,$c[2002], ©2002.
300 $axiv, 459 pages :$billustrations ;$c25 cm.
336 $atext$btxt$2rdacontent
337 $aunmediated$bn$2rdamedia
490 1 $aSources and studies in the history of mathematics and physical sciences
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [418]-427) and indexes.
505 00 $gI.$tIntroduction --$gII.$tA New Reading --$gIII.$tSelect Textual Examples --$gIV.$tMethods --$gV.$tFurther "Algebraic" Texts --$gVI.$tQuasi-algebraic Geometry --$gVII.$tOld Babylonian "Algebra": a Global Characterization Algebra? --$gVIII.$tThe Historical Framework --$gIX.$tThe "Finer Structure" of the Old Babylonian Corpus --$gX.$tThe Origin and Transformations of Old Babylonian Algebra --$gXI.$tRepercussions and Influences.
520 1 $a"In the 1920s it was recognized, largely as a result of work by Otto Neugebauer and his collaborators, that Babylonian cuneiform tablets included many mathematical texts. Some were concerned with metrology and computation, while others contained mathematical problems. Many of the latter appear to deal with something like school algebra, mostly quadratic equations, describing numerical rules for solution but without giving any reasons for these.
520 8 $aWere they, as most interpreters have assumed, an early expression of the "joys of pure mathematics"?".
520 8 $a"In this new examination of the texts, Jens Hoyrup proposes a different interpretation, based on a detailed investigation of the terminology and discursive organization of the texts. The texts turn out to speak not of pure numbers, but of the dimensions and areas of rectangles and other measurable geometrical magnitudes, often serving as representatives of other magnitudes (prices, workdays, etc.), much as pure numbers represent concrete magnitudes in modern applied algebra.".
520 8 $a"The texts show why the procedures are correct, but do not aim at creating theory, nor are their second-degree "equations" of any practical use. Hoyrup argues that we should focus on the function of the texts within the schools and within Babylonian culture at large.
520 8 $aScribes and their schoolmasters took pride in the particular skills of their craft, and knowing how to solve equations of the second or higher degree allowed them to show off their virtuosity - as much as knowing how to write and speak Sumarian in addition to the Babylonian language of their own times." "The book provides a detailed reading of many tablets and a careful examination of the context in which they were produced."--BOOK JACKET.
650 0 $aMathematics, Babylonian.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85082173
650 0 $aAlgebra.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85003425
830 0 $aSources and studies in the history of mathematics and physical sciences.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n99050535
852 00 $bmat$hQA22$i.H83 2002