THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRIGONOMETRY The beginnings of spherical trigonometry can be traced to the work of the astronomer Hipparchus of Nicaea

(180-125 BC) . He has come to be known as "The father of trigonometry". One of the uses of trigonometry in Greek and pre-Greek times was to tell the time of day or period of the year by the positions of various stars. Astronomers compiled charts of the angular measure between various stars. Hipparchus systematically studied and measured the length of various chords in circles. He prepared extensive tables of chords at 0,5 degree intervals for all central angles from 0,5-180 degrees. The word chord originates from the Greek word Chord, wich means intestines. Animals intestines were often used as the string on a bow.

turned into jb. When the Englishman Robert of Chester translated "The Almagest" into Latin, he assumed jb to be an abbreviation of jaib, and substituted the word for its Latin eqvivalent sinus around the year 1150. The names of the other trigonometric functions have less complicated interpretations. The present name of tangens originates from the Latin word tangere, which means "to touch", was introduced in 1583 by the Dane Thomas Fincke. The name cosinus was suggested in 1620 by the English mathematician and astronomer Edmund Gunter. It replaces the older term sinus comlementi, which is sinus of the complementary angle. Today plane trigonometry is ordinarely approached through the use of right triangles, allthough the subject actually deals with any type of triangle. In this approach, given an angle A that is between 0 and 90 degrees, a right triangle is constructed having A as one of its angles. Since the sum of three angles of a plane triangle is always 180 degrees, the third angle must be 90-A degrees. The side opposite the right angle is labelled the hypotenuse, the side opposite angle A the opposite, and the side next to angle A the adjacent.

Angle V A B The angle V decides the chorde AB

B hypotenuse opposite C adjacent A This is used to forme various functions of angle A, and the Pythagorean theorem. Pythagorean theorem: (hypotenuse)^2 = (opposite)^2 + (adjacent)^2 Tangent A = Opposite Adjacent Sine A = Opposite Hypotenuse Cosine A = Adjacent Hypotenuse

It was common practice in ancient Greece, when solving triangles, to assume them to be inscribed in a sircle. Then their sides became chords of the circle. As a mathematician, Hipparchus introdused to Greek science the Babylonian method of dividing the circle into 360 degrees. The Alexandrian astronomer Ptolemy, who worked in the 2nd century AD, continued Hipparchus` work in the computation of arcs and chords of great circles. Greek trigonometry reached its highest point with Ptolemy, whose major work in the subject has come to be called "The Almagest"(The Greatest). It is often difficult to determine which findings in the book are those of Ptolemy, and which are those of Hipparchus, because most of Hipparchus` work is lost. Still it is likely that Ptolemy did extend some of the work of Hipparchus through his own observations, apparently using somewhat similar instruments. The first book of "The Almagest" tables of chords for all arcs from 0-180 degrees, at 0,5 degrees intervals to at least five places of decimals. This table is belived to be the table prepared by Hipparchus. In "The Almagest" Ptolemy also obtained relationships among the angles and sides of spherical triangles, that are the eqvivalent of many basic relationships and identities of trigonometry today. Further development of trigonometry leeds us to India and the mathematician and astronomer Aryabhata. Aryabhata calculated the length of half-cords to an angle. If we compare the method used by Hipparchus and the method used by Aryabhata, we will find that the development approaches our definition of sinus. The Hindu mathematicians referred to the half-chord as ardha-jya, later abbreviated to jya. Arab translators turned this phonetically into jiba, which is a meaningless word in Arabic. According to Arabic practice of omitting the vowels in writing, it

Values of the trigonometric functions of different angles have been tabulated, and the tables allow the theory of plane trigonometry to be applied to problems in such pursuits as surveying and engineering.

Applications of trigonometry

What can you do with trig? Historically, it was developed for astronomy and geography, but scientists have been using it for centuries for other purposes, too. Besides other fields of mathematics, trig is used in physics, engineering, and chemistry. Within mathematics, trig is used in primarily in calculus (which is perhaps its greatest application), linear algebra, and statistics. Since these fields are used throughout the natural and social sciences, trig is a very useful subject to know. 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 trig.

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.