{"title":"How the estimate of 2 on YBC 7289 may have been calculated","authors":"David Buckle","doi":"10.1016/j.hm.2022.08.002","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>It remains unknown how the approximation of <span><math><msqrt><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msqrt></math></span> scribed on Babylonian tablet YBC 7289 was calculated. In this article I show how it can be straightforwardly computed using a well-known regular number as the input for the Babylonian method of estimating square roots. My objective is to demonstrate that Babylonian mathematics was sufficiently evolved for the approximation to be easily derived and thus propose an approach that may have been used to calculate it.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51061,"journal":{"name":"Historia Mathematica","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5000,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Historia Mathematica","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0315086022000477","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
It remains unknown how the approximation of scribed on Babylonian tablet YBC 7289 was calculated. In this article I show how it can be straightforwardly computed using a well-known regular number as the input for the Babylonian method of estimating square roots. My objective is to demonstrate that Babylonian mathematics was sufficiently evolved for the approximation to be easily derived and thus propose an approach that may have been used to calculate it.
期刊介绍:
Historia Mathematica publishes historical scholarship on mathematics and its development in all cultures and time periods. In particular, the journal encourages informed studies on mathematicians and their work in historical context, on the histories of institutions and organizations supportive of the mathematical endeavor, on historiographical topics in the history of mathematics, and on the interrelations between mathematical ideas, science, and the broader culture.