Asger Aaboe

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Asger Aaboe
Born
Asger Hartvig Aaboe

(1922-04-26)April 26, 1922
DiedJanuary 19, 2007(2007-01-19) (aged 84)
NationalityDanish
Education

Asger Hartvig Aaboe (26 April 1922 – 19 January 2007) was a Danish historian of the exact sciences and mathematics who was best known for his contributions to the history of ancient Babylonian astronomy. In his studies of Babylonian astronomy, he went beyond analyses in terms of modern mathematics to seek to understand how the Babylonians conceived their computational schemes.[1][2][3]

Aaboe studied mathematics and astronomy at the

Otto Neugebauer, writing a dissertation "On Babylonian Planetary Theories". In 1961 he joined the Department of the History of Science and Medicine at Yale University, serving as chair from 1968 to 1971, and continuing an active career there until retiring in 1992. At Yale, his doctoral students included Alice Slotsky and Noel Swerdlow.[4]

He was elected to the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters in 1975, served as president of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences from 1970 to 1980, and was a member of many other scholarly societies.

In 1987 a festschrift was published in honor of Asger Aaboe's 65th birthday.[5] [6]

Aaboe married Joan Armstrong on 14 July 1950. The marriage produced four children: Kirsten Aaboe, Erik Harris Aaboe, Anne Aaboe, Niels Peter Aaboe.[7]

Selected publications

Notes

  1. ^ Britten (2006), p. 120
  2. ^ Goldstein (2007), p. 263.
  3. ^ Steele (2007), p. 378.
  4. ^ Asger Aaboe at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  5. ISBN 978-87-7709-002-8; xx+298 pages{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link
    )
  6. .
  7. ^ O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F. "Asger Aaboe". MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive. University of St Andrews.
  8. ^ Brennan, Tom (October 19, 2002). "review of Episodes from the Early History of Mathematics by Asger Aaboe". MAA Reviews, Mathematical Association of America.

References