Don't Fall for Babylonian Trigonometry Hype

["DAVID FARBER" <dfarber () me com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Peter Lowe <pgl () yoyo org>
> Date: August 30, 2017 at 7:05:04 AM EDT
> To: ip () listbox com
> Subject: Don't Fall for Babylonian Trigonometry Hype
>
> https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/roots-of-unity/dont-fall-for-babylonian-trigonometry-hype/
>
>    You may have seen headlines about an ancient Mesopotamian tablet.
>    “Mathematical secrets of ancient tablet unlocked after nearly a century
>    of study,” said the Guardian. “This mysterious ancient tablet could
>    teach us a thing or two about math,” said Popular Science, adding, “Some
>    researchers say the Babylonians invented trigonometry—and did it
>    better.” National Geographic was a bit more circumspect: “A new study
>    claims the tablet could be one of the oldest contributions to the study
>    of trigonometry, but some remain skeptical.” Daniel Mansfield and Norman
>    Wildberger certainly did a good job selling their new paper in the
>    generally more staid journal Historia Mathematica. I’d like to help
>    separate fact from speculation and outright nonsense when it comes to
>    this new paper.
>
>    ...
>
> -- 
> This is not the .signature you are looking for. Move along.
> http://pgl.yoyo.org/ | pgl () yoyo org
>
>
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