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Mathematical models: from sundials to number engines – for iPod/iPhone

Mathematical models: from sundials to number engines – for iPod/iPhone

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Since the dawn of civilisation, humans have used everyday materials to create mathematical models of the world around them. This album explores the ancient Greeks’ astrolabe as a model of the skies; the sundial, to tell the time; Babylonian clay tablets to record wages and trading of sheep; wooden tallies for bulk-buying beer, the Incas’ use of knots and string, and the sophisticated number-engine invented by Charles Babbage. This material forms part of The Open University course MST121 Using mathematics.

Recent Episodes

  • Mathematical models: from sundials to number engines

    14 years ago

  • Transcript -- Mathematical models: from sundials to number engines

    14 years ago

  • The sundial as a mathematical model

    14 years ago

  • Transcript -- The sundial as a mathematical model

    14 years ago

  • Reading the sky with the astrolabe

    14 years ago

  • Transcript -- Reading the sky with the astrolabe

    14 years ago

  • Recording sales in clay tablets

    14 years ago

  • Transcript -- Recording sales in clay tablets

    14 years ago

  • Incas and their knots

    14 years ago

  • Transcript -- Incas and their knots

    14 years ago