Ancient Babylonian Algorithms The early origins of mathematics are discussed, emphasizing those aspects which seem to be of greatest interest from the standpoint of computer science. A number of old Babylonian tablets, many of which have never before been translated into English, are quoted. CACM July, 1972 Knuth, D. E. history of computation, Babylonian tablets, sexagesimal number system, sorting 1.2 CA720722 JB January 30, 1978 10:50 AM 2306 5 2306 2306 5 2306 2306 5 2306