Babylonian word problems

 After finishing this writing, I cannot answer all the questions deeply. I hope to receive the feedbacks from the instructor and all my classmates. Thank you 

After reading this article, I realize that the mathematical word problem which appeared thousand years ago are also used at the present. For me, they are even more difficult. Look back the mathematical word problems history, these mathematical word problems came from the real life, so they are so practical. The difference is that all the units which were used in the past are totally different from the present. Beside the word problems connecting with real life, there are unreal problems. “The impractical nature of these stories calls into question their referentiality in pointing to “real world” situations and casts doubt upon the serious practicality of even those more plausible problems” (Susan, p.5).

1// Our interpretation relies on our familiarity with contemporary algebra because all the math word problems belong to algebra

2/ How do these ideas relate to the history of mathematics, specifically to Babylonian mathematics? Word problems were found on Babylonian tablets including multiplication, reciprocal, square root. “The problem of deixis or reference in contemporary word problems appears to originate in the very earliest word problems, those from ancient Babylon” (Susan, p.5)

3/ How do your own experiences of learning with word problems influence your ideas about Babylonian word problems? In textbook nowadays, word problems are not only about real problems, but also about word languages of formulars. The units we use in modern are different from units in Babylonian word problems. I feel the word problems in Babylon is more difficult.