All societies have had ways of understanding nature based on their experiences of it. For example, farmers need to understand the seasons and weather to know when to plant and harvest their crops.

In school we learn there are 360 degrees in a circle, but where did the 360 come from? When it is pointed out that the Babylonians counted to base-60, rather than base-10 as we do, people often ask if ...

The purpose of four ancient Babylonian tablets at the British Museum has long been a historical mystery, but now it turns out that they describe a method that uses figures on a graph to calculate the ...

Ancient astronomers were highly sophisticated observers of the night sky. Though they lacked telescopes or any kind of magnification device, stargazing is one of the only things you could do at night, ...

Ancient Babylonians charted Jupiter’s heavenly motion in a surprisingly modern, mathematically abstract way — a feat that until now was thought to have originated among European scholars who lived ...

THIS is a work of great interest to students both of archaeology and of astronomy. The story of the many stages that were necessary before a full understanding was reached of the astronomical value of ...

A newly spotlighted artifact from ancient Mesopotamia is offering a rare window into how one of the world’s earliest civilizations imagined the Earth. Known as the Imago Mundi, this Babylonian world ...

WHEN names had to be given to stars, the Babylonians naturally took them from the objects around themselves. The heavenly host was compared to an immense flock, and several stars were grouped together ...

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. All societies have had ways of understanding ...

The Conversation is an independent, nonprofit publisher of commentary and analysis, authored by academics and edited by journalists for the general public. On a mission “to promote truthful ...