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Article: The Babylonian Theory of the Planets.(Review)
- Article from:
- The Journal of the American Oriental Society
- Article date:
- October 1, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 American Oriental Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Babylonian Theory of the Planets. By N. M. SWERDLOW. Princeton: PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1998. Pp. xv + 246. $39.50.
It has been almost one hundred years since J. Epping, J. N. Strassmaier, and F. X. Kugler made the discovery that the Babylonians not only watched the skies, but also computed a whole host of celestial events, ranging from the first visibility of the lunar crescent, to the dates of the appearances and disappearances of the five planets. Through the extensive labors of these and later scholars most aspects of the operation of the Babylonian mathematical astronomy are now well understood. However, the question of how the various Babylonian ...