Primary Sources: Science in Civilization

"Search 10,227 of our digitized items: artifacts, photographs, advertisements, letters, rare books, oral histories, and more."

While the website itself is not a primary source, it contains photographs of mathematical artifacts which are primary sources.

Here you can download part or all of the Mayan Dresden Codex, a book that contained their mathematically calculated astronomical predictions. Mayan mathematics used a base 20 system, the concept of zero, and a notation method that made arithmetic very intuitive.

This website is not a primary source, but this page of the website contains images and translations of some major Egyptian mathematical papyri that you may wish to examine further as primary sources in their own right. Ancient Egypt did not invent the zero but were able to perform geometric and algebraic calculations for purposes of land surveying, architecture, and business/taxation.

This website is not a primary source, but it contains photographs of cuneiform tablets that are primary sources. It also contains detailed explanations of Mesopotamian mathematics. Ancient Mesopotamian cultures (Sumer, Akkad, Babylon) had a base 60 numbering system without the number zero. They were able to do geometry and trigonometry, which they used for land surveying and astronomical time-keeping/astrology. They also used arithmetic in business and taxation.

This online magazine article is not a primary source (it's secondary) but it does contain a photograph of an important primary source - a dirty sheaf of bamboo strips that were able to be cleaned and reassembled into a mathematical text, including a multiplication table that involved multiplying fractions. This places Chinese knowledge of advanced multiplication much earlier than we were previously able to demonstrate.

A collection of digitized Arabic language manuscripts from the scholarly heart of the Kingdom of Mali, Timbuktu. This collection includes both mathematical and astronomical manuscripts.

This page is not a primary source (it's tertiary) but it contains photographs of primary sources - the wicker and bead star and ocean current charts created by ancient Polynesian Wayfinders (open oceangoing navigators) who were able to determine their latitude and direction using only the night sky, and know where they were in relation to islands too far away to see by noting changes in the waves.

A collection of digitized Arabic language manuscripts from the scholarly heart of the Kingdom of Mali, Timbuktu. This collection includes both mathematical and astronomical manuscripts.

Regulatory information, data, and reports on climate, pollution, natural resources, and environmental public health threats like lead, mold, etc.

US government climate and weather research and data.

Maps, data and reports on earth events and phenomena like volcanoes, landslides, coastline changes, and earthquakes.

Climate and weather records and forecasts. Part of NOAA, but frequently accessed on its own due to its daily practical uses.

Patents, data, and research papers.

"an independent educational research activity dedicated to the Research and Preservation of Vintage Computing Technologies."

Interviews, oral histories, and classic papers and patents.

Data and regulatory information.

"These archives showcase publications, historic photos, and museum artifacts from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Archives and the NIST Museum."