Asger Hartvig Aaboe (26 April 1922 – 19 January 2007) was a historian of the exact sciences and of mathematics who is known for his contributions to the history of ancient

Babylonian astronomy Babylonian astronomy was the study or recording of celestial objects during the early history of Mesopotamia. Babylonian astronomy seemed to have focused on a select group of stars and constellations known as Ziqpu stars. These constellations ...

. 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. Aaboe studied mathematics and astronomy at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

, and in 1957 obtained a PhD in the

History of Science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal. Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Mesop ...

from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Provide ...

, where he studied under 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 Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

, 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 Noel Mark Swerdlow (9 September 1941 – 24 July 2021) was a professor emeritus of history, astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago. He was a visiting professor at the California Institute of Technology. Career Swerdlow specia ...

. He was elected to the

Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters {{Infobox organization , name = The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters , full_name = , native_name = Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab , native_name_lang = , logo = Royal ...

in 1975, served as president of the

Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences The Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences is a learned society founded in 1799 in New Haven, Connecticut "to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest and happiness of a free and virtuous people." Its purpose is the ...

from 1970 to 1980, and was a member of many other scholarly societies. Aaboe married Joan Armstrong on 14 July 1950. The marriage produced four children: Kirsten Aaboe, Erik Harris Aaboe, Anne Aaboe, Niels Peter Aaboe.

Selected publications

* ''Episodes from the Early History of Mathematics'', New York: Random House, 1964. * "Scientific Astronomy in Antiquity", ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London'', A.276, (1974: 21–42). * "Mesopotamian Mathematics, Astronomy, and Astrology", ''The Cambridge Ancient History'' (2nd. ed.), Vol. III, part 2, chap. 28b, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991, * ''Episodes from the Early History of Astronomy'', New York: Springer, 2001, .

Notes

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aaboe, Asger 1922 births 2007 deaths 20th-century Danish mathematicians 21st-century Danish mathematicians Historians of science Danish historians of mathematics Historians of astronomy Danish expatriates in the United States University of Copenhagen alumni Brown University alumni Yale University faculty