Very interesting article on ancient tablet

[Simon Peach]

At least 1,000 years before the Greek mathematician Pythagoras looked at a right angled triangle and worked out that the square of the longest side is always equal to the sum of the squares of the other two, an unknown Babylonian genius took a clay tablet and a reed pen and marked out not just the same theorem, but a series of trigonometry tables which scientists claim are more accurate than any available today.

The 3,700-year-old broken clay tablet survives in the collections of Columbia University, and scientists now believe they have cracked its secrets.

The team from the University of New South Wales in Sydney believe that the four columns and 15 rows of cuneiform – wedge shaped indentations made in the wet clay – represent the world’s oldest and most accurate working trigonometric table, a working tool which could have been used in surveying, and in calculating how to construct temples, palaces and pyramids.

https://www.theguardian.com/science...blet-unlocked-after-nearly-a-century-of-study

<Moderator's note: link corrected, Article intro added>

 

[DS2C]

Never ceases to amaze me at the engineering, scientific, and mathematical feats that humans accomplished so far back. Starting from absolutely nothing then coming up with these things makes me feel extremely fortunate that at least I have a base to work from that so many people built over lifetimes.

 

[symbolipoint]

You really think any or most members want to answer a question on an external site about if he/she/they want to follow a link to an article on that site?

 

[Simon Peach]

symbolipoint; it wasn't a question but an article that may (may) refute Pythagoras as the discoverer of the theorem named after him, and by 1500 years!

 

[DrClaude]

You really think any or most members want to answer a question on an external site about if he/she/they want to follow a link to an article on that site?

I have modified the link so that it directly points to the article.

symbolipoint; it wasn't a question but an article that may (may) refute Pythagoras as the discoverer of the theorem named after him, and by 1500 years!

Your link was pointing back to Facebook instead of the actual Guardian article.

 

[symbolipoint]

symbolipoint; it wasn't a question but an article that may (may) refute Pythagoras as the discoverer of the theorem named after him, and by 1500 years!

I have modified the link so that it directly points to the article.Your link was pointing back to Facebook instead of the actual Guardian article.

Thanks

 

[OmCheeto]

Fun story.
After looking at the full list of numbers at wiki, and being not very good at maths, I have lots of questions.
How on Earth did they come up with the 12,709 18,541 [13500] set?
Did they know Euclid's method of finding Pythagorean triples?
Or did someone sit down and figure that out by hand?
That would take me a lifetime! (with clay and sticks)
Probably only a year with a spreadsheet.

ps. For people like me who have no idea when these people were alive:
Euclid: ≈300 BC
Pythagoras: ≈530 BC
Plimpton 322 tablet: ≈1800 BC

 

[mfb]

a series of trigonometry tables which scientists claim are more accurate than any available today.

We have billions of digits today. I'm quite sure the table didn't have that accuracy.

with potential modern application because the base 60 used in calculations by the Babylonians permitted many more accurate fractions than the contemporary base 10.

That doesn't make any sense.

@OmCheeto: The Wikipedia article discusses a method to get these values. x=125/54 leads to this set.