E.L. Meszaros, Brown University
Algorithms have been used as a tool for translating the mathematical astronomy of ancient cultures (Ritter 2016, Imhausen 2002) and a general label for calculation methods like the Babylonian Systems A and B (Ossendrijver 2012). The continued use of the term “algorithm” to understand and translate these ancient ideas highlights the value of taking a closer look at what modern scholars mean when using the word. Thinking of ancient computational procedures as akin to modern algorithms may provide a way of understanding mental models or even a new way of thinking about methods of the circulation of this computational knowledge. The term is also, however, associated with modern baggage of impersonal, biased calculations that change with the cultures that create, adopt, and use them (Noble 2018).
Drawing from modern cultural algorithm studies (Seaver 2022, Daston 2022), this paper will examine the value of thinking about ancient Babylonian astronomy in algorithmic terms, using as a case study the known Venus procedures. This presentation will dive into translating these procedures as algorithms following previous interpretation tools used by historians of science, highlighting potentially emic ideas of abstraction, implicit and explicit knowledge, and control of the flow of logic. As a final note, this paper will look at similar examples of Venus procedures found in Greek papyrus fragments and the Sanskrit Pañcasiddhāntikā that rely on methods, relationships, and data found in the Babylonian text in order to explore how thinking about computed examples algorithmically might enable cross-cultural comparison. The goal of this presentation is to use the term “algorithm” critically to discuss astronomical procedures, Babylonian scientific cultures, and the circulation of scientific knowledge in the ancient Mediterranean.