Babylon Astronomy Cuneiform Tablet

An interesting article about a Babylonian cuneiform tablet tracking Jupiter:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/29/science/babylonians-clay-tablets-geometry-astr...

Its amazing that anyone today can read the cuneiform in those tablets!
I don't understand what they were trying to do: if they computed Jupiter's daily velocity from its day-to-day change in observed position, then what was gained by computing position by integrating the area under a velocity versus time graph?

I'm amazed that anyone at anytime can read that, there doesn't appear enough distinction to me to make out word groups.

I'm amazed anyone can read my handwriting, but they do (I'm much more legible in Arabic or Russian for which I was formally taught handwriting). I remember that before interview at Birmingham (UK), I had the pleasure of Professor Lambert's company in the university library, and he showed no difficulty in reading Sumerian on sight. I remember my surprise when for my Hebrew he recommended Latin, German and French commentaries. But, I suppose we had done Latin, French and German at school for just that purpose. But I'd done sciences, and dropped languages at sixteen. Are students of Akkadian still expected to use Labat's Manuel and Borger's Lesestücke? Because far fewer seem to do the basic French and German now, at least in the UK.

I'm not sure how much Akkadian is done at the undergraduate level these days, and most graduate students at least are expected to know French and German. But it's also possible to use a sign list with very minimal knowledge of the modern European language that it's written in; it just adds another step to the process.