Writing science before the Greeks : a naturalistic analysis of the Babylonian astronomical treatise MUL.APIN / by Rita Watson and Wayne Horowitz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Watson, Rita, 1949-

Contributor:

Horowitz, Wayne, 1957-

Series:

Culture and history of the ancient Near East ; v. 48.

Culture and history of the ancient Near East, 1566-2055 ; v. 48

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Astronomy, Assyro-Babylonian.

Akkadian language--Texts.

Akkadian language.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (251 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The beginnings of written science have long been associated with classical Greece. Yet in ancient Mesopotamia, highly-sophisticated scientific works in cuneiform script were in active use while Greek civilization flourished in the West. The subject of this volume is the astronomical series MUL.APIN, which can be dated to the seventh century BCE and which represents the crowning achievement of traditional Mesopotamian observational astronomy. Writing Science before the Greeks explores this early text from the perspective of modern cognitive science in an effort to articulate the processes underlying its composition. The analysis suggests that writing itself, through the cumulative recording of observations, played a role in the evolution of scientific thought. \'All in all, the authors should be congratulated for this groundbreaking study. Apart from significant new insights into MUL.APIN it has opened up a new avenue for research on ancient scientific texts that is likely to yield further interesting results, particularly if the cognitive analysis is combined with other approaches.\' Mathieu Ossendrijver, Humboldt University

Contents:

Preliminary Material / R. Watson and W. Horowitz

Chapter One. MUL.APIN / R. Watson and W. Horowitz

Chapter Two. Writing And Conceptual Change / R. Watson and W. Horowitz

Chapter Three. Terms Of Analysis / R. Watson and W. Horowitz

Chapter Four. MUL.APIN: Text And Analysis / R. Watson and W. Horowitz

Chapter Five. Summary Of Results / R. Watson and W. Horowitz

Chapter Six. Discussion: MUL.APIN, Writing, And Science / R. Watson and W. Horowitz

Chapter Seven. Further Thoughts: The Cognitive Function Of Writing In MUL.APIN / R. Watson and W. Horowitz

Chapter Eight. A Final Word: From List To Axiom / R. Watson and W. Horowitz

Bibliography / R. Watson and W. Horowitz

Appendix One. The Translated Text Of MUL.APIN / R. Watson and W. Horowitz

Appendix Two. The Babylonian Month-Names / R. Watson and W. Horowitz

Appendix Three. Tablet And Line Correspondences With Hunger-Pingree / R. Watson and W. Horowitz

Subject Index / R. Watson and W. Horowitz

Author Index / R. Watson and W. Horowitz

Akkadian And Sumerian Word Index / R. Watson and W. Horowitz

MUL.APIN Text Citation Index / R. Watson and W. Horowitz.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

1-283-12094-1

9786613120946

90-04-20231-5

OCLC:

727949975

Publisher Number:

10.1163/ej.9789004202306.i-223 DOI