Fantastic! Not to mention, a thousand years earlier, Archimedes or someone like him had designed (and had built) a working analog computer, the Antikythera mechanism. I frequently think about how differently things might have gone, had that knowledge spread instead of being buried. Same w/Lovelace/Babbage during the Victorian era.
I am a total proto-science nerd. All this stuff is just fascinating, isn't it? Those early charting efforts make it so clear- human beings seek clarity and understanding in all we do. The con-sanguinity tables are touching in their earnestness. When young boys were farmed out to relatives and allies as proto-hostages to grown up with broader loyalties, understanding who you might be related to by blood was a real concern. Another great read! And those first pages of the Catalan Atlas are stunningly beautiful.
The Dark Ages, especially if taken as the entirety of the Middle Ages, is a very long period… very long… and it would be ludicrous to think that Age of Enlightenment didn't grow organically out of the so-called dark ages. The transition, around the 1400s–1500s, between the two periods is itself very rich in math(s) and science and technology… An excellent example of this fantastic human ingenuity around that time is very well depicted in this terrific YouTube video explaining the history of the (invention of the) natural logarithm…
Also, I just came across this book about the dark ages, titled The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science, by Seb Falk, which I haven't read yet, but is right up this alley…
The Consanguinity Tables were the precursor to today's ancestry websites where we, the hoi polloi, can construct our familial relationships. I must admit the Consanguinity Tables are more interesting for viewing, certainly more artistic.
Amazing article, which cost a lot of work to prepare. Thank you. Perhaps the Antikythera Mechanism was more advanced than astrolabe, but it is the latter that survived. On a separate note, it is quite fascinating how for many of the ancient people the distinction between science and astrology, magic and horoscope was non existent. Today in many cultures it is still the case: https://open.substack.com/pub/nomadicmind/p/mathematics-african-way?r=31fxoh&utm_medium=ios
Very good -- I've saved. I like your opening. What stories do we tell ourselves to explain where we find ourselves? At the same time, even if a story about a numerical system that did not influence our own might point to something deeper in how humans try to think about the world.
Fantastic! Not to mention, a thousand years earlier, Archimedes or someone like him had designed (and had built) a working analog computer, the Antikythera mechanism. I frequently think about how differently things might have gone, had that knowledge spread instead of being buried. Same w/Lovelace/Babbage during the Victorian era.
I am a total proto-science nerd. All this stuff is just fascinating, isn't it? Those early charting efforts make it so clear- human beings seek clarity and understanding in all we do. The con-sanguinity tables are touching in their earnestness. When young boys were farmed out to relatives and allies as proto-hostages to grown up with broader loyalties, understanding who you might be related to by blood was a real concern. Another great read! And those first pages of the Catalan Atlas are stunningly beautiful.
The Dark Ages, especially if taken as the entirety of the Middle Ages, is a very long period… very long… and it would be ludicrous to think that Age of Enlightenment didn't grow organically out of the so-called dark ages. The transition, around the 1400s–1500s, between the two periods is itself very rich in math(s) and science and technology… An excellent example of this fantastic human ingenuity around that time is very well depicted in this terrific YouTube video explaining the history of the (invention of the) natural logarithm…
https://youtu.be/habHK6wLkic?si=J_zfscmqEFBvZJmB
Also, I just came across this book about the dark ages, titled The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science, by Seb Falk, which I haven't read yet, but is right up this alley…
That book sounds great, I’ll check it out - thanks!
The Consanguinity Tables were the precursor to today's ancestry websites where we, the hoi polloi, can construct our familial relationships. I must admit the Consanguinity Tables are more interesting for viewing, certainly more artistic.
My middle age computational system is stuck at Algebra 1. 🤓
These are all very fascinating and of great aesthetic value as well. Thank you for this article.
Amazing article, which cost a lot of work to prepare. Thank you. Perhaps the Antikythera Mechanism was more advanced than astrolabe, but it is the latter that survived. On a separate note, it is quite fascinating how for many of the ancient people the distinction between science and astrology, magic and horoscope was non existent. Today in many cultures it is still the case: https://open.substack.com/pub/nomadicmind/p/mathematics-african-way?r=31fxoh&utm_medium=ios
Very good -- I've saved. I like your opening. What stories do we tell ourselves to explain where we find ourselves? At the same time, even if a story about a numerical system that did not influence our own might point to something deeper in how humans try to think about the world.
Excellent.
We stand upon the shoulders of giants.
Fascinating. And so compelling to see astrology side-by-side with astronomy and the like, in some cases!
I’ve only just seen it but have already committed the Cistercian numerical system to memory. What an elegant system!
It’s really cool isn’t it!
The Maya had a unique system as well.
In addition to the one I mentioned?
Missed it!