Babylonian Mathematical Astronomy: Procedure Texts 2012th Edition

From the reviews:

“This book is unquestionably the most significant publication on Babylonian mathematical astronomy since Neugebauer’s ACT. Living up to the standard set by Neugebauer is no small challenge, but there is no doubt that Ossendrijver has succeeded in that task, producing both a clearly written and technically outstanding study of these highly important texts.” (J.M. Steele, Journal for the History of Astronomy, August, 2013)

“The available corpus of Babylonian texts concerning mathematical astronomy … consists of about 440 tablets, dating roughly between 450 and 50 BC. … very readable photographs of the tablets are provided. … this book will allow scholars with an inclination toward mathematics, and an interest in the history of science in antiquity, to be in contact with its raw products without having to devote their entire lives to such study.” (Bruno Poizat, Mathematical Reviews, April, 2013)

Babylonian Mathematical Astronomy: Procedure Texts 2012th Edition contains a new analysis of the procedure texts of Babylonian mathematical astronomy. These cuneiform tablets, excavated in Babylon and Uruk and dating from 350‒50 BCE, contain computational instructions that represent the earliest known form of mathematical astronomy of the ancient world. The targeted readership includes assyriologists, historians of science, astronomers and others with an interest in Babylonian astronomy.

The book includes new translations of all 108 available tablets that are based on a modern approach incorporating recent insights from assyriology and translation science. All translations are accompanied by commentaries and photographs of the tablets. The preceding chapters are devoted to documentary, lexical, semantic, mathematical and astronomical aspects of the procedure texts. Special attention is given to issues of mathematical representation, a topic that had previously been largely ignored. Mathematical concepts are presented in a didactic fashion, setting out from the most elementary ones (numbers and elementary operations) to more complex ones (algorithms and computational systems). Chapters devoted to the planets and the Moon contain updated and expanded reconstructions and astronomical interpretations of the algorithms.

The author intends to continue his study of Babylonian mathematical astronomy with a new publication devoted to the Tabular Texts―the end products of Babylonian mathematical astronomy, computed with algorithms that are formulated in the present volume. The upcoming volume will contain new editions and reconstructions of over 250 tabular texts and a new philological, astronomical, and mathematical analysis of these texts.