John Steele is a historian of the exact sciences in antiquity. He specializes in the history of astronomy, with a particular focus on Babylonian astronomy. He is editor of the bookseries Scientific Writings from the Ancient and Medieval World and a member of the editorial boards of several bookseries and journals including Time, Astronomy, and Calendars and the Journal for the History of Astronomy. He holds an honourary Professorship at Shanghai in the School of History and Culture of Science at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and is a senior fellow of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. Before coming to Brown, he held a Royal Society University Research Fellow at Durham University, was E. P. May Fellow at the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at the University of Toronto, and was Dibner Institure Postdoctoral Fellow at the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology.
| Wainer, Zackary, Steele, John. "Astral Commentaries within the Mesopotamian Received Tradition." Mathematical Commentaries in the Ancient World, 2022, pp. 199-277. |
| Steele, John, Ganguli, Srishti. "Babylonian records of transient astronomical phenomena." Astronomische Nachrichten, vol. 343, no. 6-7, 2022. |
| "Egypt and Babylon in Eighteenth-Century European Histories of Astronomy." The Allure of the Ancient, 2022, pp. 310-342. |
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The Allure of the Ancient: Receptions of the Ancient Middle East, ca. 1600-1800. edited by M. Geoga and J. M. Steele, Brill, 2022.
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| "The Influence of Assyriology on the Study of Chinese Astronomy in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries." Overlapping Cosmologies In Asia, 2022, pp. 17-44. |
| Steele, J. M., Meszaros, E. L. "A study of Babylonian records of planetary stations." Archive for History of Exact Sciences, vol. 75, no. 4, 2021, pp. 415-438. |
| Advancing Cultural Astronomy. edited by Boutsikas, E., McCluskey, S., Steele, J. M., Springer, 2021. |
| Steele, John. "An alternative interpretation of BM 76829: astrological schemes for length of life and parts of the body." Archive for History of Exact Sciences, vol. 76, no. 1, 2021, pp. 1-14. |
| Steele, John. "Babylonian Shadow-Length Schemes: Between Mathematics and Astronomy." Claroscuro. Revista del Centro de Estudios sobre Diversidad Cultural, no. 20, 2021, pp. 1-25. |
| Steele, John. "The Continued Relevance of MUL.APIN in Late Babylonian Astronomy." Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History, vol. 8, no. 1-2, 2021, pp. 259-277. |
| "The Long History of an Imaginary Inscription: Josephus’ Two Pillars in Early Modern European Histories of Astronomy." Afterlives of Ancient Rock-cut Monuments in the Near East, 2021, pp. 402-426. |
| Steele, John. "Their Equinox: Mesopotamian Conceptions of Solstices and Equinoxes." Historical & Cultural Astronomy, 2021, pp. 35-49. |
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J. M. Steele.
"A Proto-Normal Star Almanac Dating to the Reign of Artaxerxes III: BM 65156." Archive for History of Exact Sciences, vol. 74, 2020, pp. 243–253.
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J. M. Steele.
"Geminos and Babylonian Astronomy." Instruments - Observations - Theories: Studies in the History of Early Astronomy in Honor of James Evans, edited by C. Carman and A. Jones, New York, ISAW, 2020, pp. 205–212.
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| Steele J. "How Can We Incorporate Visual Evidence into the History of the Astral Sciences in Mesopotamia?." NTM Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Wissenschaften, Technik und Medizin, vol. 28, no. 3, 2020, pp. 305-324. |
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J. M. Steele.
"Short Time in Mesopotamia." Down to the Hour: Short Time in the Ancient Mediterranean and the Near East , edited by K. Miller and S. Symons, Leiden, Brill, 2020, pp. 90–124.
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| John Steele. "An Early Compilation of Saturn Observations from Babylon." Journal for the History of Astronomy, vol. 50, 2019, pp. 31-45. |
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John Steele.
"Astronomical Activity in the ‘House of the āšipus’ in Uruk." Scholars and Scholarship in Late Babylonian Uruk , edited by Christine Proust and John Steele, Springer, 2019, pp. 147-170.
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John Steele.
"Explaining Babylonian Astronomy." Isis, vol. 110, 2019, pp. 292–295.
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Christine Proust and John Steele.
"Introduction: Scholars, Scholarly Archives and the Practice of Scholarship in Late Babylonian Uruk." Scholars and Scholarship in Late Babylonian Uruk , edited by Christine Proust and John Steele, Springer, 2019, pp. 1-52.
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Keeping Watch in Babylon: The Astronomical Diaries in Context. edited by Johannes Haubold, John Steele, and Kathryn Stevens, Brill, 2019.
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Scholars and Scholarship in Late Babylonian Uruk. edited by Christine Proust and John Steele, Springer, 2019.
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Hermann Hunger and John Steele.
The Babylonian Astronomical Compendium MUL.APIN. Routledge, 2019.
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John Steele.
"The Early History of the Astronomical Diaries." Keeping Watch in Babylon: The Astronomical Diaries in Context, edited by Johannes Haubold, John Steele, and Kathryn Stevens, Leiden, Brill, 2019, pp. 19–52.
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John Steele.
"A Lunar Six Compendium from the Reign of Nebuchadnezzar II: BM 48644." NABU, vol. 2018/3, 2018, pp. 129–130.
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John Steele.
"Another Microzodiac Rising Time Text: BM 48166." NABU, vol. 2018/3, 2018, pp. 132.
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John Steele.
"Babylonian and Assyrian Astral Science." The Cambridge History of Science, Volume 1: Antiquity, edited by Alexander Jones and Liba Taub, Cambridge University Press, 2018, pp. 73-98.
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Paul-Alain Beaulieu, Eckart Frahm, Wayne Horowitz and John Steele.
The Cuneiform Uranology Texts: Drawing the Constellations. American Philosophical Society, 2018.
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John Steele.
"The Development of the Babylonian Zodiac: Some Preliminary Observations." Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry , vol. 18/4, 2018, pp. 97–105.
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W. Horowitz and J. M. Steele.
"A Mysterious Circular Tablet with Numbers and Stars." Studies in the Ancient Exact Sciences in Honor of Lis Brack-Bernsen, edited by J. M. Steele and M. Ossendrijver, Berlin, Edition Topoi, 2017, pp. 225–232.
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J. M. Steele.
"A Text Containing Observations of Mars from the time of Nebuchadnezzar II." Studies in the Ancient Exact Sciences in Honor of Lis Brack-Bernsen, edited by J. M. Steele and M. Ossendrijver, Edition Topoi, 2017, pp. 69–81.
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J. M. Steele.
"Real and Constructed Time in Babylonian Astral Medicine." The Construction of Time in Antiquity: Ritual, Art and Identity, edited by J. Ben-Dov and L. Doering, New York, Cambridge University Press, 2017, pp. 69–82.
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Rising Time Schemes in Babylonian Astronomy. Springer, 2017.
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J. M. Steele and M. Ossendrijver (eds.).
Studies in the Ancient Exact Sciences in Honor of Lis Brack-Bernsen. Edition Topoi, 2017.
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A. Jones, C. Proust and J. M. Steele (eds.).
A Mathematician’s Journeys: Otto Neugebauer and Modern Transformations of Ancient Sciences. Springer, 2016.
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| M. Allen, W. Ambrisco, M. Anastasiou, D. Bate, Y. Bitsakis, A. Crawley, M. G. Edmunds, D. Gelb, R. Hadland, P. Hockley, A. Jones, T. Malzbender, H. Magou, X. Moussas, A. Ramsey, J. H. Seiradakis, J. M. Steele, A. Tselikas, M. Zafeiropoulou. "Inscriptions on the Antikythera Mechanism 1. General Preface to the Inscriptions." Almagest, vol. 7, 2016, pp. 4-35. |
| M. Anastasiou, Y. Bitsakis, A. Jones, J. M. Steele and M. Zafeiropoulou. "Inscriptions on the Antikythera Mechanism 4. The Back Dial and Back Plate Inscriptions." Almagest, vol. 7, 2016, pp. 183-215. |
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"Near East Relations: Mesopotamia and Egypt." Time and Cosmos in Greco-Roman Antiquity , edited by A. Jones, Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 2016, pp. 45-62.
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"Neugebauer’s Astronomical Cuneiform Texts and its Reception." A Mathematician’s Journeys: Otto Neugebauer and Modern Transformations of Ancient Sciences , edited by A. Jones, C. Proust and J. M. Steele, Dordrecht, Springer, 2016, pp. 303-332.
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"The Circulation of Astronomical Knowledge between Babylon and Uruk." The Circulation of Astronomical Knowledge in the Ancient World, edited by J. M. Steele, Leiden, Brill, 2016, pp. 93-118.
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J. M. Steele (ed.).
The Circulation of Astronomical Knowledge in the Ancient World. Brill, 2016.
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| "A Late Babylonian Compendium of Calendrical and Stellar Astrology." Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 67, 2015, pp. 187-215. |
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C. L. N. Ruggles, J.-A. Belmonte, S. Iwaniszewski, A. López, S. McCluskey, J. M. Steele and Sun Xiaochun (eds.).
Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy. Springer, 2015.
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"Late Babylonian Metrological Tablets in the British Museum." SCIAMVS, vol. 16, 2015, pp. 75-90.
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"Mesopotamian Astrological Geography." The Star of Bethlehem and the Magi: Perspectives from Experts on the Ancient Near East, the Greco-Roman World, and Modern Astronomy, edited by P. Barthel and G. van Kooten, Leiden, Brill, 2015, pp. 201-216.
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| Mozaffari, S. Mohammad, Steele, John M. "Solar and lunar observations at Istanbul in the 1570s." Arch. Hist. Exact Sci., vol. 69, no. 4, 2015, pp. 343-362. |
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"The Eclipse of Theon and Earth’s Rotation." New Insights from Recent Studies in Historical Astronomy: Following in the Footsteps of F. Richard Stephenson, edited by W. Orchiston, D. Green, and R. Strom, Berlin, Springer, 2015, pp. 47-51.
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"Late Babylonian Ziqpu-Star Lists: Written or Remembered Traditions of Knowledge?." Traditions of Written Knowledge in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, edited by D. Bawanypeck and A. Imhausen, Muenster, Ugarit-Verlag, 2014, pp. 123-151.
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I. Pingree and J. M. Steele (eds.).
Pathways into the Study of Ancient Sciences: Selected Essays by David Pingree. American Philosophical Society, 2014.
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"A Comparison of Astronomical Terminology, Methods and Concepts in China and Mesopotamia, With Some Comments on Claims for the Transmission of Mesopotamian Astronomy to China." vol. 16, 2013, pp. 250-260.
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"Shadow-Length Schemes in Babylonian Astronomy." SCIAMVS, vol. 14, 2013, pp. 3-39.
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J. Haubold, G. Lanfranchi, R. Rollinger and J. M. Steele (eds.).
The World of Berossos. Harrassowitz, 2013.
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"The ‘Astronomical Fragments’ of Berossos in Context." The World of Berossos, edited by J. Haubold, G. B. Lanfranchi, R. Rollinger, and J. M. Steele, Weisbaden, Harrassowitz, 2013, pp. 107-121.
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Ancient Astronomical Observations and the Study of the Moon’s Motion (1691–1757). Springer, 2012.
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J. Ben-Dov, W. Horowitz and J. M. Steele (eds.).
Living the Lunar Calendar. Oxbow, 2012.
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"Living With a Lunar Calendar in Mesopotamia and China." Living the Lunar Calendar, edited by J. Ben-Dov, W. Horowitz and J. M. Steele, Oxford, Oxbow, 2012, pp. 373-387.
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"Remarks on the Sources for the Lunar Latitude Section of Atypical Astronomical Cuneiform Text E." NABU, vol. 2012/3, 2012, pp. 71-72.
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L. Brack-Bernsen and J. M. Steele.
"14-Month Intervals of Lunar Velocity and Column Φ in Babylonian Astronomy: Atypical Text C." The Empirical Dimension of Ancient Near Eastern Studies – Die empirische Dimension altorientalischer Forschungen, edited by G. Selz and K. Wagensonner, Vienna, LIT Verlag, 2011, pp. 111-130.
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| Steele, John M. "Astronomy and culture in Late Babylonian Uruk." Proc. IAU, vol. 7, no. S278, 2011, pp. 331-341. |
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J. M. Steele (ed.).
Calendars and Years II: Astronomy and Time in the Ancient and Medieval World. Oxbow, 2011.
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"Goal-Year Periods and Their Use in Predicting Planetary Phenomena." The Empirical Dimension of Ancient Near Eastern Studies – Die empirische Dimension altorientalischer Forschungen, edited by G. Selz and K. Wagensonner, Vienna, LIT Verlag, 2011, pp. 101-110.
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"Making Sense of Time: Observational and Theoretical Calendars." The Oxford Handbook of Cuneiform Culture, edited by K. Radner and E. Robson, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011, pp. 470-485.
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| STEELE, J. M. "Visual Aspects of the Transmission of Babylonian Astronomy and its Reception into Greek Astronomy." Annals of Science, vol. 68, no. 4, 2011, pp. 453-465. |
| Steele, J. M. "A New Scheme from Babylon for the Synodic Arc of Saturn." Journal for the History of Astronomy, vol. 41, no. 2, 2010, pp. 261-268. |
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"Dunthorne, Mayer and Lalande on the Secular Acceleration of the Moon." Ptolemy in Perspective: Use and Criticism of his Work from Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century, edited by A. Jones, New York, Springer, 2010, pp. 203-216.
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"Newly Identified Lunar and Planetary Tables from Babylon in the British Museum." SCIAMVS, vol. 11, 2010, pp. 211-239.
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| Gray, J. M. K., Steele, J. M. "Studies on Babylonian goal-year astronomy II: the Babylonian calendar and goal-year methods of prediction." Arch. Hist. Exact Sci., vol. 63, no. 6, 2009, pp. 611-633. |
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A Brief Introduction to Astronomy in the Middle East. Saqi Books, 2008.
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J. M. Steele and L. Brack-Bernsen.
"A Commentary Text to Enūma Anu Enlil 14." From the Banks of the Euphrates: Studies in Honor of Alice Louise Slotsky, edited by M. Ross, Winona Hill, Eisenbrauns, 2008, pp. 253-262.
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| Freeth, Tony, Jones, Alexander, Steele, John M., Bitsakis, Yanis. "Calendars with Olympiad display and eclipse prediction on the Antikythera Mechanism." J. Geophys. Res., vol. 454, no. 7204, 2008, pp. 614-617. |
| Gray, J. M. K., Steele, J. M. "Studies on Babylonian goal-year astronomy I: a comparison between planetary data in Goal-Year Texts, Almanacs and Normal Star Almanacs." Arch. Hist. Exact Sci., vol. 62, no. 5, 2008, pp. 553-600. |
| Steele, J. M., Gray, J. M. K. "A Study of Babylonian Observations Involving the Zodiac." Journal for the History of Astronomy, vol. 38, no. 4, 2007, pp. 443-458. |
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P. J. Huber and J. M. Steele.
"Babylonian Lunar Six Tablets." SCIAMVS, vol. 8, 2007, pp. 3-36.
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J. M. Steele (ed.).
Calendars and Years: Astronomy and Time in the Ancient Near East. Oxbow, 2007.
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| Steele, J. M. "Celestial Measurement in Babylonian Astronomy." Annals of Science, vol. 64, no. 3, 2007, pp. 293-325. |
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"Measuring the Heavens in Mesopotamia." Lights and Shadows in Cultural Astronomy, edited by M. P. Zedda and J. A. Belmonte, Isili, Associatione Archeofila Sarda, 2007, pp. 206-211.
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"The Length of the Month in Mesopotamian Calendars of the First Millennium BC." Calendars and Years: Astronomy and Time in the Ancient Near East, edited by J. M. Steele, Oxford, Oxbow, 2007, pp. 133-148.
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| Stephenson, F. R., Steele, J. M. "Astronomical Dating of Babylonian Texts Describing the Total Solar Eclipse of S.E. 175." Journal for the History of Astronomy, vol. 37, no. 1, 2006, pp. 55-69. |
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"Greek Influence on Babylonian Astronomy?." Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry , vol. 6, 2006, pp. 149-156.
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| "A New Scheme from Uruk for the Retrograde Arc of Mars." Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 57, 2005, pp. 129-133. |
| Brack-Bernsen, Lis, Steele, John M. "Eclipse Prediction and the Length of the Saros in Babylonian Astronomy." Centaurus, vol. 47, no. 3, 2005, pp. 181-206. |
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"Four Procedure Texts Concerning Jupiter’s Latitude and Synodic Motion from Babylon." SCIAMVS, vol. 6, 2005, pp. 33-51.
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| Steele, J. M. "Miscellaneous Lunar Tables from Babylon." Arch. Hist. Exact Sci., vol. 60, no. 2, 2005, pp. 123-155. |
| Steele, J M. "Ptolemy, Babylon and the rotation of the Earth." Astron Geophys, vol. 46, no. 5, 2005, pp. 5.11-5.15. |
| Roughton, N. A., Steele, J. M., Walker, C. B. F. "A Late Babylonian Normal and Ziqpu Star Text." Arch. Hist. Exact Sci., vol. 58, no. 6, 2004. |
| Hollywood, Louise, Steele, John M. "Acronycal Risings in Babylonian Astronomy." Centaurus, vol. 46, no. 2, 2004, pp. 145-162. |
| "Applied Historical Astronomy: An Historical Perspective." Journal for the History of Astronomy, vol. 35, 2004, pp. 337-355. |
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L. Brack-Bernsen and J. M. Steele.
"Babylonian Mathemagics: Two Mathematical Astronomical-Astrological Texts." Studies in the History of the Exact Sciences in Honour of David Pingree, edited by C. Burnett, J. Hogendijk, K. Plofker and M. Yano, Leiden, Brill, 2004, pp. 95-125.
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"‘Computation According to the Wisdom of Anuship’: Astronomy in Ancient Mesopotamia”,." Bulletin of the Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies, vol. 39, 2004, pp. 33-41.
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| "Planetary Latitude in Babylonian Mathematical Astronomy." Journal for the History of Astronomy, vol. 34, 2003, pp. 269-289. |
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"The Use and Abuse of Astronomy in Establishing Absolute Chronologies." Physics in Canada, vol. 59, 2003, pp. 243-248.
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"A Simple Function for the Length of the Saros in Babylonian Astronomy." Under One Sky: Astronomy and Mathematics in the Ancient Near East, edited by J. M. Steele and A. Imhausen, Muenster, Ugarit-Verlag, 2002, pp. 405-420.
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| "BM 36948: A Saturn Ephemeris Calculated Using System A from Babylon." Journal for the History of Astronomy, vol. 33, 2002, pp. 261-264. |
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"Observation, Theory and Practice in Late Babylonian Astronomy: Some Preliminary Observations." Astronomy of Ancient Societies, edited by T. M. Potyomkina and V. N. Obridko, Moscow, Nauka, 2002, pp. 110-114.
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"Some Lunar Ephemerides and Related Texts from Babylon." Mining the Archives. Festschrift for Christopher Walker on the Occasion of His 60th Birthday, edited by C. Wunsch, Dresden, Islet, 2002, pp. 293-318.
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J. M. Steele and A. Imhausen (eds.).
Under One Sky: Astronomy and Mathematics in the Ancient Near East. Ugarit-Verlag, 2002.
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"The Latest Dated Astronomical Observation from Babylon." Archaeological Science ’97, edited by A. R. Millard, Oxford, Archaeopress, 2001, pp. 208-211.
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| "A 3405: An Unusual Astronomical Text from Uruk." Archive for History of Exact Sciences, vol. 55, 2000, pp. 103-135. |
| "A Re-Analysis of the Eclipse Observations in Ptolemy’s Almagest." Centaurus, vol. 89-108, 2000. |
| "Eclipse Prediction in Mesopotamia." Archive for History of Exact Sciences, vol. 54, 2000, pp. 421-454. |
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Observations and Predictions of Eclipse Times by Early Astronomers. Kluwer, 2000.
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| J. Fermor and J. M. Steele. "The Design of Babylonian Waterclocks: Astronomical and Experimental Evidence." Centaurus, vol. 42, 2000, pp. 89-108. |
| J. M. Steele and F. R. Stephenson. "Astronomical Evidence for the Accuracy of Clocks in Pre-Jesuit China." Journal for the History of Astronomy, vol. 29, 1998, pp. 25-48. |
| J. M. Steele and F. R. Stephenson. "Eclipse Observations Made by Regiomontanus and Walther." Journal for the History of Astronomy, vol. 29, 1998, pp. 331-334. |
| Steele, John M. "On the use of the Chinese Hsuan-ming calendar to predict the times of eclipses in Japan." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, vol. 61, no. 03, 1998, pp. 527. |
| "Predictions of Eclipse Times Recorded in Chinese History." Journal for the History of Astronomy, vol. 29, 1998, pp. 278-285. |
| J. M. Steele and F. R. Stephenson. "Lunar Eclipse Times Predicted by the Babylonians." Journal for the History of Astronomy, vol. 28, 1997, pp. 119-131. |
| "Solar Eclipse Times Predicted by the Babylonians." Journal for the History of Astronomy, vol. 28, 1997, pp. 133-139. |
| J. M. Steele, F. R. Stephenson and L. V. Morrison. "The Accuracy of Eclipse Times Measured by the Babylonians." Journal for the History of Astronomy, vol. 28, 1997, pp. 337-345. |
| Year | Degree | Institution |
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| 1998 | PhD | Durham University |
| 1995 | BS | Durham University |
Honors
2016: Fellow, Institute of Advanced Studies, Durham University
2015-present: Nominated to the “Experts Information Database of High-Level Talents Management System” of Shaanxi Province, China
2014-present: Guest Professor, School of History and Culture of Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
2010–2011: Wepster lecturer, Archaeological Institute of America
2010–present: Senior Fellow, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University
2008–2011: Honorary Fellow, Department of Physics, University of Durham
2003: Caeno Chronology Scholar prize, Caeno Foundation
1998: Keith Nicholas Prize for postgraduate study, University of Durham
Editorships
Book Series:
Scientific Writings from the Ancient and Medieval World (Routledge) (editor, 2014-present)
Wilbour Studies in Egyptology and Assyriology (Lockwood Press) (co-editor, 2011-present)
Time, Astronomy, and Calendars: Texts and Studies (Brill) (editorial board member, 2011-present).
Interpretatio: Sources and Studies in the History of Classical Philosophy and Science (Institute for Research on Classical Philosophy and Science) (editorial board member, 2006-present).
Journals:
SCIAMVS (associate editor, 2018-present).
Isis (advisory editor, 2013–2015)
Journal for the History of Astronomy (advisory editor, 2012-present)
Aestimatio: Critical Reviews in the History of Science (editorial board member, 2004-present).
Honorary Positions
Guest Professor, School of History and Culture of Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Senior Fellow, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University
Fellowships
Oct-Dec 2016: Institute of Advanced Studies, Durham University
| ASYR 0300 - Babylon: Myth and Reality |
| ASYR 0320 - The Origin(s) of Science |
| ASYR 1600 - Astronomy Before the Telescope |
| ASYR 1700 - Astronomy, Divination and Politics in the Ancient World |
| ASYR 1725 - Scientific Thought in Ancient Iraq |
| ASYR 2100 - The Ancient Near East: Early Modern Intellectual Histories |
| ASYR 2120 - Historiography of Exact Sciences |
| ASYR 2310A - Ancient Scientific Texts: Akkadian |
| ASYR 2700 - Special Topics in Ancient Sciences |
| ASYR 2710 - Babylonian Astronomy |
| ASYR 2720 - Greek Astronomy |
| ASYR 2950 - Scribal and Scholarly Practices in Babylonia and Assyria |
