it's a Babylonian thing https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/aug/24/mathematical-secrets-of-ancient-tablet-unlocked-after-nearly-a-century-of-study
What joy filled my heart :jester: when I found that Babylonian schoolchildren were likely exposed to "square of the hypotenuse" over 3,000 years before I was! Coincidentally, I bought a math history book intended for children today -- it suits my math knowledge. Turns out the Babylonian arithmetic system depended very heavily on squares - and tables of squares. They lacked a regular multiplication system like ours and needed these tables of squares for multiplying numbers, in a manner all their own. That's why so many squares - and so many tables. It looks like Necessity is the mother of invention - and she's a real witch, sometimes. Good book: 101 Things You Should Know About Math - Sonia Mehta. Well, only 100 more to go, I guess. :smile: J.
another archeology story - just a Viking girl taking names and kicking ass https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2017/09/11/viking-warrior-buried-two-horses-woman/#axzz4sKbsCtgg
