Francesca Rochberg is Catherine and William L. Magistretti Distinguished Professor of Near Eastern Studies Emerita at the University of California, Berkeley. A John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow and John Simon Guggenheim Fellow, she was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2008. Rochberg is the author of The Heavenly Writing: Divination, Horoscopy, and Astronomy in Mesopotamian Culture (2008) and Before Nature: Cuneiform Knowledge and the History of Science (2022).

'This is a brilliant work on an important topic, which brings Mesopotamia firmly into the realm of history of science. Rochberg has managed to assimilate all of the key thinkers and studies in the history of epistemology and science and to integrate these theories into her discourse, culminating in completely original and innovative insights into ancient science.' Mark Geller, University College London

• Introduction; Part I. Historiography of Science: 1. These bones live; 2. Cuneiform texts and the historiography of science; 3. The early shaping of a modern historiography of ancient astronomical sciences; Part II. Worldmaking and the Anthropology of Science: 4. The idea of worlds; 5. Uses of diversity; 6. Worldmaking in cuneiform culture; 7. Imago mundi; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index of names and subjects.

Francesca Rochberg is Catherine and William L. Magistretti Distinguished Professor of Near Eastern Studies Emerita at the University of California, Berkeley. A John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow and John Simon Guggenheim Fellow, she was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2008. Rochberg is the author of The Heavenly Writing: Divination, Horoscopy, and Astronomy in Mesopotamian Culture (2008) and Before Nature: Cuneiform Knowledge and the History of Science (2022).

'This is a brilliant work on an important topic, which brings Mesopotamia firmly into the realm of history of science. Rochberg has managed to assimilate all of the key thinkers and studies in the history of epistemology and science and to integrate these theories into her discourse, culminating in completely original and innovative insights into ancient science.' Mark Geller, University College London

• Introduction; Part I. Historiography of Science: 1. These bones live; 2. Cuneiform texts and the historiography of science; 3. The early shaping of a modern historiography of ancient astronomical sciences; Part II. Worldmaking and the Anthropology of Science: 4. The idea of worlds; 5. Uses of diversity; 6. Worldmaking in cuneiform culture; 7. Imago mundi; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index of names and subjects.

Francesca Rochberg is Catherine and William L. Magistretti Distinguished Professor of Near Eastern Studies Emerita at the University of California, Berkeley. A John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow and John Simon Guggenheim Fellow, she was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2008. Rochberg is the author of The Heavenly Writing: Divination, Horoscopy, and Astronomy in Mesopotamian Culture (2008) and Before Nature: Cuneiform Knowledge and the History of Science (2022).

'This is a brilliant work on an important topic, which brings Mesopotamia firmly into the realm of history of science. Rochberg has managed to assimilate all of the key thinkers and studies in the history of epistemology and science and to integrate these theories into her discourse, culminating in completely original and innovative insights into ancient science.' Mark Geller, University College London

• Introduction; Part I. Historiography of Science: 1. These bones live; 2. Cuneiform texts and the historiography of science; 3. The early shaping of a modern historiography of ancient astronomical sciences; Part II. Worldmaking and the Anthropology of Science: 4. The idea of worlds; 5. Uses of diversity; 6. Worldmaking in cuneiform culture; 7. Imago mundi; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index of names and subjects.