Babylonians contribution to Science

The Babylonians also excelled in the field of science. The priests watched the sun, moon
planet and star very carefully and forecast the future. Like the Sumerians, the Babylonians
also adopted lunar calendar. They divided one year into 12 months and each month was
divided into 30 days.

They also used sun dial and water clock to know time. They also knew the use of numbers
from 1 to 9. The priests also predicted future. They had acquired knowledge in geography,
life science and astrology. All these things prove the love of the Babylonians for science.

Source: http://www.historydiscussion.net/essay/contributions-of-the-babylonian-
civilization/1897

Jewelry making originated from the Babylonians.  They use metals and precious gems in making jewelry.

FARMING TECHNIQUE
During the reign of Hammurabi a big canal was dug from the city Kish to Persian gulf. Herodotus, the
father of history, had lavishly praised the wheat and barley among other crops of Babylon.

CALENDAR SYSTEM
The ancient Babylonians used a calendar with alternating 29 and 30 day months. This system required
the addition of an extra month three times every eight years, and as a further adjustment the king
would periodically order the insertion of an additional extra month into the calendar. 

Source: https://babylonianempire8c.weebly.com/science-and-technology.html

"Old" Babylonian astronomy was practiced during and after the First Babylonian dynasty (ca. 1830
BC) and before the Neo-Babylonian Empire (ca. 626 BC).
The Babylonians were the first to recognize that astronomical phenomena are periodic and apply
mathematics to their predictions. Tablets dating back to the Old Babylonian period document the
application of mathematics to the variation in the length of daylight over a solar year. Centuries of
Babylonian observations of celestial phenomena were recorded in the series of cuneiform tablets
known as the Enûma Anu Enlil—the oldest significant astronomical text that we possess is Tablet 63
of the Enûma Anu Enlil, the Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa, which lists the first and last visible risings
of Venus over a period of about 21 years. It is the earliest evidence that planetary phenomena were
recognized as periodic.
According to the method described in four of the tablets, Babylonian
astronomers plotted a 60-day portion of Jupiter’s wandering path
across the sky on a graph, with time plotted on one axis and velocity
— how many degrees Jupiter’s path shifted each day — on the other.
The figure on the resulting graph described looks like a trapezoid, and
the area of that trapezoid is the total distance Jupiter travels in 60
days.

None of the four tablets actually show the trapezoid graph, but their
text describes it in detail, from the method of plotting to the length of
each of the trapezoid’s sides. It’s a bit like a geometry textbook with
the actual figures missing, but the method described would be familiar
to any 21st century physicist.

Source: https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/ancient-babylonian-astronomers-were-way-
ahead-of-their-time

THEY DEVELOPED THE FIRST EVER POSITIONAL NUMBER

SYSTEM

The Babylonians inherited their numeral system from either the Sumerian or

the Eblaite civilizations. They used a base 60 or sexagesimal  number system. From
this we derive the modern day measurements of both the hour and the minute. As the
number 60 has many divisors (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20 and 30), a sexagesimal
system makes calculations easier than the decimal, or base 10, system we use today.
Unlike their predecessors, Babylonians used a positional numeral system, in
which the value of a digit depends on both the digit and its position. Positional
system greatly simplifies arithmetic. In fact it is nearly impossible to do advanced
mathematics with a non-positional system like the Roman  Numerals. The Babylonian
numeral system is the first known positional numeral system  and it is considered by
some as  their greatest achievement in mathematics. However, the Babylonians did
not have a concept of zero or a digit for it. They instead used a space. Due to their
advanced number system, the Babylonians made great advances in mathematics. It
has now been established that Greek and Hellenistic mathematicians borrowed
heavily from the Babylonians.
THEY COULD PERFORM ADVANCED ARITHMETIC

CALCULATIONS AND SOLVE QUADRATIC EQUATIONS

Among the most spectacular aspects of the mathematical skills of the Babylonians
was their construction of tables  to aid calculation. Unearthed Babylonian tablets
give squares of the numbers up to 59 and cubes of the numbers up to 32. If one
uses formulas, a table of squares is all that is necessary to multiply numbers. As the
Babylonians did not have an algorithm for long division, they instead used a table of
reciprocals. We still have their reciprocal tables going up to the reciprocals of
numbers up to several billion. Apart from arithmetical calculations, Babylonian
mathematicians also developed algebraic methods of solving equations. These were
also based on pre-calculated tables. The first ever evidence of the solution of
quadratic equations is from Babylonia. Also, Babylonian tablets have been found
which could have been used for calculating cubes and cube roots.

THEY WERE THE FIRST TO USE SOPHISTICATED GEOMETRY

TO TRACK MOVING OBJECTS

The Babylonians used geometry for the calculation of the areas of rectangles, triangles

and trapezoids as well as the volumes of simple shapes such as bricks and cylinders.
There is also evidence to suggest that the Pythagorean theorem may have been
known to Babylonian mathematicians as early as 1900 BC, over a thousand years
before Pythagoras was born. Five Babylonian tablets also provide evidence that
they were using sophisticated geometrical calculations to track Jupiter across the night
sky. They did this through a method for estimating the area under a curve by
drawing a trapezoid, or four sided figure, underneath. Using this method
they  tracked the position of Jupiter  as well as its speed and the distance that it traveled.
This technique is fundamental to physics and was previously believed to have
originated in 14th century Europe.

BABYLONIAN ASTRONOMY LAID THE BASIS FOR ALL

WESTERN ASTRONOMY
Ancient Babylonia occupies a  pivotal place in the history of modern scientific
astronomy. The Babylonians recorded astronomical observations in a meticulous
way generation after generation. In time, their huge cumulative database of past
observations allowed them to apply mathematically based rules for predicting
future events. The Babylonians were  the first to recognize that astronomical
phenomena are periodic  and  apply mathematics to their predictions. Apart from
numerous accurate astronomical observations, other contributions of Babylonian
astronomers include the discovery of eclipse cycles and  Saros cycles. The periodicity
and recurrence of eclipses is governed by the Saros cycle, a period of
approximately 6,585.3 days (18 years 11 days 8 hours). The Saros can thus be used
to predict eclipses of the Sun and Moon. The earliest historical record of the Saros
is by Neo-Babylonian astronomers. Babylonian astronomy was the basis for much of
ancient Greek mathematics and astronomy, which in turn was the historical
predecessor of the scientific revolution in the west.

THEY ALSO LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR WESTERN

ASTROLOGY

Babylonia is the first known civilization to possess a functional theory of the planets.

The idea of geocentrism, where the center of the Earth is the exact center of the
universe, did not exist in Babylonian cosmology. Instead they believed that the
cosmos revolved around circularly with the heavens and the earth being equal and
joined as a whole. Astrology is the study of the movements and relative positions of
celestial objects as a means for divining information about human affairs and
terrestrial events. Astrology was one of the primary means of Babylonian priests to
ascertain the will of the Gods. Babylonia thus laid the foundations of what would
eventually become Western astrology. The Zodiac and its twelve signs can also be traced
to Babylonian astrology.

Source: https://learnodo-newtonic.com/babylon-achievements

Babylonian numerals were written in cuneiform, using a wedge-tipped reed stylus to make a mark on a

soft clay tablet which would be exposed in the sun to harden to create a permanent record.

The Babylonians, who were famous for their astronomical observations and calculations (aided by their
invention of the abacus), used a sexagesimal (base-60) positional numeral systemSumerian and
also Akkadian civilizations.
Source: http://entertheworldofscience.blogspot.com/2010/07/contribution-of-babylonians-in-
science.html

One instrument for measuring time used by the Babylonian astronomers is the sundial, which casts a
shadow whose length and angle are measures of the time lapsed since sunrise. The waterclock is a
water-filled container with a tiny hole near the bottom, so that the weight of the escaped water is a
measure of time. A third method, for measuring time at night, is based on lists of time intervals between
successively culminating “ziqpu” stars. There must have existed a simple instrument for measuring
angular distances similar to the medieval Jacob’s staff. From the Achaemenid period onwards, when the
astronomers are known to have been temple employees, the temple towers (ziqqurats) might have
been used as platforms for observation.

Mathematical texts from the Old-Babylonian period (1800–1600 BCE) (see MATHEMATICS,
MESOPOTAMIAN) include tables of multiplication, reciprocals, squares, etc., expressed in the
sexagesimal place-value notation, invented in the preceding Ur-III period. In some problem texts
systems of unknowns, equivalent to modern quadratic or more complex equations, are solved using so-
called geometrical algebra. Many of these transcend the practical needs of bookkeeping. Other common
topics of the problem texts include metrology, inheritance, and various types of riddles.

Source:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278307550_Science_Mesopotamian/link/59e7adbeaca272b
c423d0c0b/download