Babylonian Word Problems (The convergence and divergence of applied and pure)

It really puzzles me that on the surface there seems to be a sense of practicality in the Babylonian word problems which is a complementing contrast to the theoretical, abstract Greek mathematics, however, when diving deeper practicality diminishes.

Robson addresses a valid idea in that Babylonians may have surpassed the needed amount of word problems for actual applications, and that problems which addresses real life applications which were getting outdated.

Hoyrup's perspective on the notion of Babylonians utilizing applied mathematics and word problems to illustrate abstract contracts is enticing, giving intuition into absurd numbers and unknowns which were in some of the Babylonian word problems.

Perhaps, exists some form of mathematics where once practical applications have been exhausted, mathematicians and practitioners now seek to exercise mathematics for the sake of exercising mathematics and "solving" some sort of problems. The latter which then results in the creation of word problems becoming more abstractions rather practical applications.

Comments

  1. Susan GerofskySeptember 30, 2019 at 12:08 PM

    Great post, Jovan! Yes, I think you're right about that -- outdated or sometimes absurd word problems can serve to express generality rather than practical solutions to everyday problem situations. This is an interesting and subtle distinction.

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