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
University of Copenhagen, and in 1957 obtained a PhD in the
History of Science from
Brown University, 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, 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]
"Scientific Astronomy in Antiquity", Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, A.276, (1974: 21–42).
doi:
10.1098/rsta.1974.0007
"Mesopotamian Mathematics, Astronomy, and Astrology", The Cambridge Ancient History (2nd. ed.), Vol. III, part 2, chap. 28b, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991,
ISBN978-0-521-22717-9;
chapter summary
Goldstein, Bernard R. (2007). "Asger Hartvig Aaboe (1922–2007)". Journal for the History of Astronomy. 38 (2). Cambridge, UK: Science History Publications: 261–3.
King, David A. (2007). "Eloge: Asger Hartvig Aaboe (1922–2007)". Isis. 98 (4). Chicago: University of Chicago Press: 796–8.
doi:
10.1086/529271.