“Mathematics was well known to the Babylonians. ...[A]bout 2,000 BC ...this tablet shows how sophisticated the mathematics was ...An approximation to \sqrt{2} ...accurate to 4 or 5 decimal places ...written in decimal notation ...[P]eople think the decimal system was created by the Arabs, Indians, Chinese, but ...the Babylonians had a system ...based on 60. So when they wanted to describe a number, they did it with 1/60, 1/602 ...[etc.]”

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About Michael Atiyah

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