Ancient Babylonians

Through the ages, the ancient Babylonians have been credited with many advances in the fields of math and science. The discoveries of these people paved the way for deeper understanding for following generations. As their civilization passed through the control of countless rulers and cultures, the idea of numbers and mathematical calculations slowly molded into what we know today. Between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in a region known as Mesopotamia, the Babylonian people resided and worked. The wedge-shaped writing style of the Sumerian people, cuneiform, came about around this time and is known as one of the earliest systems of writing. Control of Babylonia shifted into the hands of the Akkadian people around 2300 BC. After many years, the original discoveries of the Sumerians were molded and incorporated with the ideas of the new culture. One of the greatest math achievements of the Akkadians came with the abacus, or counting frame, made with stones or beans in grooves of sand. Today, the abacus is generally made up of a bamboo frame with beads sliding on wire, and is still commonly used in China. By 2100 BC, the Sumerian people had regained control of their homeland. Mathematical achievement had, at this point, far surpassed the original knowledge of the era, as an advanced …show more content…
There is, obviously, a large difference between the numbers 2106 and 216. Oftentimes, scribes used 21”6 to show that this missing number was still in place. If a simple placeholder was not used, the context of the situation would usually clear up any confusion as to whether the scribe meant 2106 or 216. The usage of context may seem futile, but bear in mind that we tend to do the same thing today. When we purchase a candy bar at the store and the clerk reads off the total amount owed as “two-fifty,” we know that this means two dollars and fifty cents, not two hundred and fifty