History of Babylonian Word Problems

After this week's reading, it is interesting to make connections to what we learned in last week's and build on what we initially learned about Babylonian algebra. Last week, I mentioned that the Babylonian's notations had some link to their daily lives and they used this notation to draw connections between mathematics and the outside world. I think the idea of word problems solidifies this idea; where the word problems are an extension of this concept of relating one's own life and experiences to math. 

I think that the idea of "pure" and "applied" mathematics are very similar to abstraction and generalization. Where pure mathematics, which is math that can only be used in its own context, is the abstraction of math and applied mathematics is the generalization of math. The concept of pure mathematics encapsulates abstract ideas and almost puts math into its own world, separate from real-life. Whereas applied mathematics, takes math and places it in the context of something real and tangible that relates to things in our everyday lives.