Editing Sumer (section)

===Mathematics===
{{Main|Babylonian mathematics}}

The Sumerians developed a complex system of [[metrology]] c. 4000 BC. This advanced metrology resulted in the creation of arithmetic, geometry, and algebra. From c. 2600 BC onwards, the Sumerians wrote [[multiplication table]]s on clay tablets and dealt with [[geometrical]] exercises and [[Division (mathematics)|division]] problems. The earliest traces of the [[Babylonian numerals]] also date back to this period.<ref>Duncan J. Melville (2003). [http://it.stlawu.edu/~dmelvill/mesomath/3Mill/chronology.html Third Millennium Chronology]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707213616/http://it.stlawu.edu/~dmelvill/mesomath/3Mill/chronology.html|date=2018-07-07}}, ''Third Millennium Mathematics''. [[St. Lawrence University]].</ref> The period c. 2700–2300 BC saw the first appearance of the [[abacus]], and a table of successive columns which delimited the successive orders of magnitude of their [[sexagesimal]] number system.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ifrah |first=Georges |url=https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_w3q2 |title=The Universal History of Computing: From the Abacus to the Quantum Computer |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-471-39671-0 |location=New York, New York |page=11}}</ref> The Sumerians were the first to use a place value numeral system. There is also anecdotal evidence the Sumerians may have used a type of slide rule in astronomical calculations. They were the first to find the area of a triangle and the volume of a cube.<ref>{{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=BKRE5AjRM3AC&q=sherlock+holmes+in+babylon |title=Sherlock Holmes in Babylon: and other tales of mathematical history | first1=Marlow |last1=Anderson | first2=Robin J. |last2=Wilson |year= 2004 |access-date=2012-03-29| isbn= 978-0-88385-546-1}}</ref>