Mathematics in Ancient Iraq: A Social History Hardcover - 2008

First line

Iraq - Sumer - Babylonia - Mesopotamia: under any or all of these names almost every general textbook on the history of mathematics assigns the origins of 'pure' mathematics to the distant past of the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

From the rear cover

"This work is an enormously significant contribution to the history of mathematics. No other work surveys the vast landscape of Mesopotamian mathematics from a position of the modern understanding of the past, incorporating the latest scholarship and yet still managing to be so accessible to nonspecialists. Robson's book is an outstanding guide that can be consulted by anyone interested in the field."--Duncan J. Melville, St. Lawrence University

"A very significant contribution to the history of ancient mathematics, and to the history of mathematics in general. I anticipate this book will be very, very useful to readers outside the field and general readers, because it is very clearly and incisively written, it gives clear indications about where to find the primary sources, and it summarizes previous historiography very effectively. There is no comparable book."--Serafina Cuomo, Birkbeck College, London

"A truly exciting and highly readable intellectual history of ancient Iraq. Eleanor Robson's Mathematics in Ancient Iraq is destined to become a classic. The book will have a wide readership among people interested in Near Eastern archaeology, the origins of writing, the history of education, and the history of science. This is truly a magnificent read."--Gary Urton, Harvard University

"This is a wholly original work, the first to integrate all the recent work from the history of mathematics in this area with archaeological scholarship. The result is a remarkably rich portrayal of mathematics in ancient Iraq. The breadth of coverage is striking, both in chronological terms but also in broad intellectual ones. The book is very well written and handsomely illustrated."--Jeremy Gray, The Open University

Media reviews

Citations

• Choice, 03/01/2009, Page 0
• Chronicle of Higher Education, 11/07/2008, Page 28