Scientific astronomy in antiquity
@article{Aaboe1974ScientificAI, title={Scientific astronomy in antiquity}, author={Asg{\'e}r Aaboe}, journal={Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences}, year={1974}, volume={276}, pages={21 - 42} }
The character and content of Babylonian scientific or mathematical astronomy, as we know it from texts of the last half millennium b.c., are sketched. This late-Babylonian astronomy is set in contrast to earlier Babylonian astronomy as well as to the kinds of astronomy found in other ancient cultures, and an attempt is made at a very broad classification of such pre-scientific astronomies. The lateness and uniqueness of Babylonian mathematical astronomy is emphasized, and it is shown that its…
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