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History of Trigonometry

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History of Trigonometry
Running Head: History of Trigonometry

History of Trigonometry
Rome Fiedler
History of Mathematics 501
University of Akron
April 29, 2012

History of Trigonometry: An Introduction Trigonometry is useful in our world. By exploring where these concepts come from provides an understanding in putting this mathematics to use. The term Trigonometry comes from the Greek word trigon, meaning triangle and the Greek word meatria meaning measurement. However it is not native to Greek in origin. The mathematics comes from multiple people over a span of thousands of years and has touched over every major civilization. It is a combination of geometry, and astronomy and has many practical applications over history. Trigonometry is a branch of math first created by 2nd century BC by the Greek mathematician Hipparchus. The history of trigonometry and of trigonometric functions sticks to the general lines of the history of math. Early research of triangles could be found in the 2nd millennium BC, in Egyptian and Babylonian math. Methodical research of trigonometric functions started in Greek math, and it reached India as part of Greek astronomy. In Indian astronomy, the research of trigonometric functions flourished in the Gupta dynasty, particularly as a result of Aryabhata. Throughout the Middle Ages, the research of trigonometry continued in Islamic math, while it was implemented as a discrete subject in the Latin West beginning in the Renaissance with Regiomontanus. The growth of contemporary trigonometry shifted in the western Age of Enlightenment, starting with 17th-century math and reaching its contemporary type with Leonhard Euler (1748)

Etymology The word "trigonometry" originates from the Greek "trigonometria", implying "triangle measuring", from triangle + to measure. The name developed from the study of right triangles by applying the relation ships between the measures of its sides and angles to the



References: Boyer, Carl B. (1991), A History of Mathematics (Second ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 3 Bressoud, D Brummelen, G. V. (2009). The Mathematics of the Heavens and the Earth. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Gingerich, Owen (1986), "Islamic astronomy". Scientific American 254 (10): 74. Gullberg, Jan. (1996)Mathematics from the Birth Of Numbers. New York:W.W. Norton and Company, Inc. Joyce, D. E. (n.d.). History of Trigonometry Outline. Retrieved 3 21, 2012, from History of Trigonometry Outline: http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/ma105/trighist.html Kennedy, E Kline, Morris.(1972) Mathematical Thought from Ancient to Modern Times. New York: Oxford University Press. Kluemper, A. (2010, 3 24). History of Trigonometry. Retrieved 3 5, 2012, from www.xtimeline.com: http://www.xtimeline.com/timeline/History-of-Trigonometry Mankiewicz, Richard Maor, E. (1998). Trigonometric Delights. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Miller, S. (2001). Understanding Transformations of Periodic Functions through Art. Mathematics Teacher , 94 (8), 632-635. Moussa, Ali (2011), "Mathematical Methods in Abū al-Wafā 's Almagest and the Qibla Determinations". Arabic Sciences and Philosophy. Cambridge University Press. 21 (1): 1–56. Needham, Joseph (1986), Science and Civilization in China: Volume 3, Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd. Rogers, L. (n.d.). The History of Trigonometry- Part 1. Retrieved 3 1, 2012, from Enriching Mathematics: http://nrich.maths.org/6843/index Suzuki, J Smith, D.E. (1958)History of Mathematics. New York:Dover Publications, Inc. Toomer, G. J. (1998), Ptolemy 's Almagest, Princeton University Press. Weber, K. (2005). Students Understanding of Trigonometric Functions. Mathematics Education Research Journal , 17 (3), 91-112. www.cartage.org. (n.d.). Trigonometry History. Retrieved 3 5, 2012, from Trigonometry History: http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/sciences/Mathematics/Trigonometry/history/History%20.html van Brummelen, G

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