Australian mathematician discovers applied geometry engraved on 3,700-year-old tablet

Old Babylonian tablet likely used for surveying uses Pythagorean triples at least 1,000 years before Pythagoras

An Australian mathematician has discovered what may be the oldest known example of applied geometry, on a 3,700-year-old Babylonian clay tablet.

Known as Si.427, the tablet bears a field plan measuring the boundaries of some land.