Pre Calculus Paper
Lemuel Hackshaw
February 14th, 2013
MA122
History of Trigonometry The History of Trigonometry dated back to the early ages of Egypt and Babylon. Many different Astronomers and Mathematicians all took place in helping create Trigonometry, people from Hipparchus, all the way to Isaac Newton. They all contributed a little something, something to formulate what we know as trigonometry. The places these events took place in different place like Greece and India, to Sweden to Germany. Trigonometry was formulated for computations in astronomy.
A Greek Astronomer by the name of Hipparchus compiled the trigonometric table which measured the length of the chord subtending the various angles in a circle of a fixed radius r. In other words, Hipparchus made the first piece of the puzzle for the Unit Circle. His table was done in increasing degrees of 71. Another man, buy the name of Ptolemy took that piece of the puzzle and created a table of chords which increased in 1 degree, this took place in the 5th century. This next piece was known as Menelaus’s theorem which formed the foundation of trigonometric studies for the next 300 years. Aroud that same time, an Indian mathematician took the chords out and replaced them with sine functions instead. This was a ratio, but rather the opposite of the angle in a right angle of fixed hypotenuse. A Muslim astronomer now compiled all of these ideas of both the Indians and the Greeks. Now, in the 13th century, Germans made modern trigonometry by defining trigonometry functions as ratios rather than lengths of lines. Another Astronomer from Sweden discovered logarithms, and then another large step in Trigonometry was made by Isaac Newton whom founded differential and integral calculus. The history of Trigonometry came about mainly due to the purposes of time keeping and astronomy. Four different careers that use trigonometry are Sailors, Astronomy, Architects, and Surveyors. Sailors use trigonometry for geography and
February 14th, 2013
MA122
History of Trigonometry The History of Trigonometry dated back to the early ages of Egypt and Babylon. Many different Astronomers and Mathematicians all took place in helping create Trigonometry, people from Hipparchus, all the way to Isaac Newton. They all contributed a little something, something to formulate what we know as trigonometry. The places these events took place in different place like Greece and India, to Sweden to Germany. Trigonometry was formulated for computations in astronomy.
A Greek Astronomer by the name of Hipparchus compiled the trigonometric table which measured the length of the chord subtending the various angles in a circle of a fixed radius r. In other words, Hipparchus made the first piece of the puzzle for the Unit Circle. His table was done in increasing degrees of 71. Another man, buy the name of Ptolemy took that piece of the puzzle and created a table of chords which increased in 1 degree, this took place in the 5th century. This next piece was known as Menelaus’s theorem which formed the foundation of trigonometric studies for the next 300 years. Aroud that same time, an Indian mathematician took the chords out and replaced them with sine functions instead. This was a ratio, but rather the opposite of the angle in a right angle of fixed hypotenuse. A Muslim astronomer now compiled all of these ideas of both the Indians and the Greeks. Now, in the 13th century, Germans made modern trigonometry by defining trigonometry functions as ratios rather than lengths of lines. Another Astronomer from Sweden discovered logarithms, and then another large step in Trigonometry was made by Isaac Newton whom founded differential and integral calculus. The history of Trigonometry came about mainly due to the purposes of time keeping and astronomy. Four different careers that use trigonometry are Sailors, Astronomy, Architects, and Surveyors. Sailors use trigonometry for geography and
Cited: Page 1) "Applications of Trigonometry." Applications of Trigonometry. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013. 2) "Real World Application of Trigonometry." Real World Application of Trigonometry. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013. 3) "History of Trigonometry." History of Trigonometry. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013. 4) "History of Trigonometry." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 Aug. 2009. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.