This book presents a novel methodology to study economic texts. It provides a methodology to explore, understand, and exploit statistical data.The anlaysis also fills a void in the history of mathematics by presenting historians of mathematics a method to study practical texts.
“Middeke-Conlin's study greatly expands our understanding of the interplay between theoretical `school' mathematics and the actual practices of numerate scribes going about their daily business, at least in Old Babylonian Larsa. It is to be hoped that future scholars will take this careful and detailed methodology as a model for probing practices in other times and places.” (Duncan J. Melville, Mathematical Reviews, Issue (6), March, 2024)
Innehållsförteckning
Chapter 1.Introduction.- Chapter 2. The early scribal education.- Chapter 3. Text types and archival practices in the kingdom of Larsa.- Chapter 4. Archives, bureaus and management systems of the kingdom of Larsa.- Chapter 5. Metrology and sexagesimal place value notation in economic texts.- Chapter 6. Errors, mistakes and evidence for a counting device.- Chapter 7. Observation and the limits of numeracy. Chapter 8. Multiplication and estimation.- Chapter 9. Rounding in mathematical and economic texts.- Chapter 10. Conclusion: On errors, rounding and education in the kingdom of Larsa.