Customer Reviews

Mathematics and Measurement (Reading the Past, Vol. 2)

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This book attempts to cover A LOT of ground in 60 pages. I really fault the publishers for not allowing him to write and elaborate more on the subjects. It contains the absolute essentisls of understanding how mathematic notation and methods of measuring came about. The additional explanatory material is very consise and little erratic because of space requirements. Personally, the most useful thing I found in it wre the tables of measurements (such as cubits, palms, digits, etc.) and how they approximate to the modern metric system. I also found it to be a good primer for more thorough books such "The Exact Sciences in Antiquity" or "Science Awakening".

"Mathematics and Measurement" is an eclectic collection of information on the origins and applications of mathematics in the ancient world by Oswald A. W. Dilke, who is a specialist in Latin, Roman land surveying, and ancient cartography. This slim 63-page volume is part of the British Museum's "Reading the Past" series, but it is broader than the other books. It covers the development and usage of mathematics and measurement from about 3000 BC in the civilizations that influenced the Western understanding of these concepts until the Greco-Roman study of math diminished around 500 AD. Included are 60 black-and-white photos and illustrations.

Dilke starts at the beginning with the Egyptian, Sumerian, and Babylonian methods of expressing numbers. The Sumerians and Babylonians used a sexagesimal system (base 60). Then he moves on to the much later Greek and Roman systems of numeration that used letters to express numbers. Of course, we still use Roman numerals today, so Dilke explores their origins. He examines the place of mathematics in Greece, where it was held in high esteem even by philosophers, and the contributions Greece made to geometry, algebra, and trigonometry.

From that point, "Mathematics and Measurement" looks at the practical applications of mathematics: Measurement, with units always based on human body parts, in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome. Math for land surveying in Rome and architecture in Greece. The challenges of map-making in Greece and Rome. Their calendars and methods of telling time. Calculations of weights for commerce before their was coinage, then coinage and the complexities of taxation and interest rates. Dilke cuts a broad swath through anything to do with numbers in the ancient world. It's an overview, but it is easy to learn to read the numbers and understand the units of measure from this book.