ORIGINS OF SCIENCE IN THE ANCIENT WORLD 23 



Many elementary facts of mathematical and physical 

 science were established as early as the third millennium 

 b. c. In Babylon, we find standard measures of length, 

 weight, and capacity issued by governmental authority. 

 Our own unit of weight, the pound, has descended from the 

 Sumerian mina. Our time unit sixty had a similar origin. 

 The earliest writing which was exclusively alphabetic was 

 that of the Aramean Syrians, in contact with Mesopotamia 

 to the north and west. The multiplication table, tables of 

 squares and cubes, a duodecimal and a decimal system 

 appear in the sculptured records, bearing testimony to the 

 intelligence which made so admirable a beginning in the 

 basic sciences. 8 The elements of geometry arose, apparently 

 in connection with the measurement of land. A calendar 

 was developed to meet the demands of Agriculture. Among 

 the items of modern life, illustrative of applied science and 

 independently originated by the Mesopotamians or through 

 them transmitted to Europe, may be enumerated: the wheel, 

 as a burden-bearing device (3000 b. a); cotton, derived 

 from India at an early date; the domestic horse, coming to 

 Babylonia from the north about 2100 b. c; and iron, which 

 was first extensively used by the armies of Assyria. The 

 beginnings of a postal system under Sennacherib (700 b. c.) 

 may also be mentioned. 9 



The record of the Chaldean civilizations, as drawn from 

 the inscriptions on temple and palace walls and on the 

 cylinders and tablets of clay, is tolerably complete. It 

 tells us of civilizations in which astronomy, mensuration, 



8 The original discovery of what might be called the properties of the various 

 numbers must have been a wonderful experience for the human mind. It is 

 not surprising that merit and demerit were ascribed to numbers which be- 

 haved so differently in computation. For an interesting discussion along this 

 line see: Slocum, S. E., "The Romantic Aspect of Numbers," Scientific 

 Monthly, July, 1918. 



9 Whetham, W. C. D., and C. D., "Science and the Human Mind." Draper, 

 J. W., "History of the Conflict between Religion and Science." Sedgwick, 

 W. T., and Tyler, H. W., "A Short History of Science." 



