3,700-year-old Babylonian tablet rewrites the history of maths - and shows the Greeks did not develop trigonometry

Science | Mathematics | Rare books & manuscripts

The tablet is broken and probably had more rows, experts believe  Credit: UNSW 

 

• Sarah Knapton, Science Editor

24 August 2017 • 7:00pm

 

A 3,700-year-old clay tablet has proven that the Babylonians developed trigonometry 1,500 years before the Greeks and were using a sophisticated method of mathematics which could change how we calculate today.

The tablet, known as Plimpton 332, was discovered in the early 1900s in Southern Iraq by the American archaeologist and diplomat Edgar Banks, who was the inspiration for Indiana Jones.

The true meaning of the tablet has eluded experts until now but new research by the University of New South Wales, Australia, has shown it is the world’s oldest and most accurate trigonometric table, which was probably used by ancient architects to construct temples, palaces and canals. Read more...