Since the dawn of civilisation, humans have used everyday materials to create mathematical models of the world around them. This album explores the ancient Greeks' astrolabe as a model of the skies; the sundial, to tell the time; Babylonian clay tablets to record wages and trading of sheep; wooden t…
The Open University
A short introduction to this album.
Transcript -- A short introduction to this album.
An ancient mathematical tool to measure the daily and annual cycles of the earth around the sun.
Transcript -- An ancient mathematical tool to measure the daily and annual cycles of the earth around the sun.
How the Greeks invented a two dimensional astrolabe as a conceptual model of the cosmos, and how it was used.
Transcript -- How the Greeks invented a two dimensional astrolabe as a conceptual model of the cosmos, and how it was used.
Clay tokens, an ancient system used to record goods changing hands.
Transcript -- Clay tokens, an ancient system used to record goods changing hands.
How South American Incas kept records by the use of knots.
Transcript -- How South American Incas kept records by the use of knots.
How wholesale beer sales were recorded using notches on wooden tallies.
Transcript -- How wholesale beer sales were recorded using notches on wooden tallies.
John Napier's method of multiplication and logarithms, and how Charles Babbage corrected his calculations.
Transcript -- John Napier's method of multiplication and logarithms, and how Charles Babbage corrected his calculations.
Charles Babbage's ingenious mechanical device to compute mathematical equations.
Transcript -- Charles Babbage's ingenious mechanical device to compute mathematical equations.
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