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Scientific History Part 7 Mathematics Commentary — The Diagonal on a Clay Tablet

Read the numbers on YBC 7289 to explore Babylonian scribal education, the sexagesimal system, and square-root approximation. Follow the diagonal of a square through an argument for incommensurability to the organization of proof in Greek mathematics.

October 30, 202614 min read

WorldHistory
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Scientific History

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1 article tagged “Square Roots”

Scientific History Part 7 Mathematics Commentary — The Diagonal on a Clay Tablet

All Articles

1 article tagged “Square Roots”

Scientific History Part 7 Mathematics Commentary — The Diagonal on a Clay Tablet