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History of Trigonometry

Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that deals with the relationships between angles and sides of triangles. It has a long history dating back to ancient Egypt and Babylon, with further developments by Greek astronomers and Indian and Muslim mathematicians. Trigonometry functions are now defined as ratios rather than lengths of lines. Trigonometry has many applications, including astronomy, geography, navigation, engineering, physics, and other areas of mathematics and science.

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40 views

History of Trigonometry

Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that deals with the relationships between angles and sides of triangles. It has a long history dating back to ancient Egypt and Babylon, with further developments by Greek astronomers and Indian and Muslim mathematicians. Trigonometry functions are now defined as ratios rather than lengths of lines. Trigonometry has many applications, including astronomy, geography, navigation, engineering, physics, and other areas of mathematics and science.

Uploaded by

midori_06
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Trigonometry

A branch of mathematics that deals with the sides and the angles of triangles, the calculations based on the angles of triangles and the solid figures derived from them. It is used in astronomy, calendar science and navigation. The story of trigonometry is the story of a gradual congealment from multiple nations over hundreds of years.

History of Trigonometry
The history of trigonometry dates back to the early ages of Egypt and Babylon. Angles were then measured in degrees. History of trigonometry was then advanced by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus who compiled a trigonometry table that measured the length of the chord subtending the various angles in a circle of a fixed radius(r).This was done in increasing degrees of 71. In the 5th century, Ptolemy took this further by creating the table of chords with increasing 1 degree. This was known as Menelaus' theorem which formed the foundation of trigonometry studies for the next 3 centuries. Around the same period, Indian mathematicians created the trigonometry system based on the sine function instead of the chords. Note that this was not seen to be ratio but rather the opposite of the angle in a right angle of fixed hypotenuse. The history of trigonometry also included Muslim astronomers who compiled both the studies of the Greeks and Indians. In the 13th century, the Germans fathered modern trigonometry by defining trigonometry functions as ratios rather than lengths of lines. After the discovery of logarithms by the Swedish astronomer, the history of trigonometry took another bold step with Isaac Newton. He founded differential and integral calculus. Euler used complex numbers to explain trigonometry functions and this is seen in the formation of the Euler's formula. The history of trigonometry came about mainly due to the purposes of time keeping and astronomy.

Concept of Applications in Trigonometry


Astronomy and geography
Trigonometric tables were created over two thousand years ago for computations in astronomy. The stars were thought to be fixed on a crystal sphere of great size, and that model was perfect for practical purposes. Only the planets moved on the sphere. (At the time there were seven recognized planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the moon, and the sun. Those are the planets that we name our days of the week after. The earth wasn't yet considered to be a planet since it was the center of the universe, and the outer planets weren't discovered then.) The kind of trigonometry needed to understand positions on a sphere is called spherical trigonometry. Spherical trigonometry is rarely taught now since its job has been taken over by linear algebra. Nonetheless, one application of trigonometry is astronomy. As the earth is also a sphere, trigonometry is used in geography and in navigation. Ptolemy (100-178) used trigonometry in his Geography and used trigonometric tables in his works. Columbus carried a copy of Regiomontanus' Ephemerides Astronomicae on his trips to the New World and used it to his advantage.

Engineering and physics


Although trigonometry was first applied to spheres, it has had greater application to planes. Surveyors have used trigonometry for centuries. Engineers, both military engineers and otherwise, have used trigonometry nearly as long. Physics lays heavy demands on trigonometry. Optics and statics are two early fields of physics that use trigonometry, but all branches of physics use trigonometry since trigonometry aids in understanding space. Related fields such as physical chemistry naturally use trigonometry.

Mathematics and its applications


Of course, trigonometry is used throughout mathematics, and, since mathematics is applied throughout the natural and social sciences, trigonometry has many applications. Calculus, linear algebra, and statistics, in particular, use trigonometry and have many applications in the all the sciences.

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