Otto Neugebauer’s involvement with Babylonian mathematical astronomy, one of the central topics of his research, can be traced through more than 30 publications stretching over the period from 1936 to 1991. In this paper I aim to discuss Neugebauer’s approach to the translation of Babylonian mathematical astronomy and assess it in the light of subsequent research. Apart from the editions of astronomical tablets contained in Astronomical Cuneiform Texts (Neugebauer 1955) and elsewhere we can hope to learn something about this topic from his other works, since he often displays a profound interest in methodological issues. However, Neugebauer rarely discussed his method of translation, focussing instead on the mathematical methods developed by him for analysing astronomical tables and reconstructing the underlying algorithms and empirical data. Nevertheless, these aspects of Neugebauer’s methodology turn out to be relevant for understanding his approach to translation. Before discussing his translations I will therefore begin by exploring the broader methodological framework underlying Neugebauer’s research on Babylonian mathematical astronomy.
...MoreBook Alexander Jones; Christine Proust; John M. Steele (2016) A Mathematician's Journeys: Otto Neugebauer and Modern Transformations of Ancient Science.
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