Glen Van Brummelen Knihy

This book presents the first comprehensive history in English of trigonometry's origins and early development. Glen Van Brummelen identifies the earliest trigonometric precursors in ancient Egypt, Babylon, and Greece, highlighting Hipparchus, the Greek astronomer who systematically utilized trigonometry in the second century BC to study celestial motions. The narrative follows trigonometry's evolution into a robust mathematical discipline in India and the Islamic world, examining its applications in geography and navigation during the European Middle Ages and Renaissance. It illustrates how trigonometry maintained its ancient roots while becoming integral to modern mathematics. The text also addresses controversies surrounding Hipparchus's role as the father of trigonometry, the originality of Indian trigonometry compared to Greek influences, and the debt of Western science to Islamic contributions. Additionally, the book includes extended excerpts of original texts and provides detailed yet accessible explanations of the mathematics involved. No other work on trigonometry offers such historical breadth, analytical depth, and coverage of non-Western mathematics, making this an essential read for those interested in the subject.

Spherical trigonometry was at the heart of astronomy and ocean-going navigation for two millennia. The discipline was a mainstay of mathematics education for centuries, and it was a standard subject in high schools until the 1950s. Today, however, it is rarely taught. Heavenly Mathematics traces the rich history of this forgotten art, revealing how the cultures of classical Greece, medieval Islam, and the modern West used spherical trigonometry to chart the heavens and the Earth. Glen Van Brummelen explores this exquisite branch of mathematics and its role in ancient astronomy, geography, and cartography; Islamic religious rituals; celestial navigation; polyhedra; stereographic projection; and more. He conveys the sheer beauty of spherical trigonometry, providing readers with a new appreciation for its elegent proofs and often surprising conclusions. Heavenly Mathematics is illustrated throughout with stunning historical images and informative drawings and diagrams that have been used to teach the subject in the past. This unique compendium also features easy-to-use appendixes as well as exercises at the end of each chapter that originally appeared in textbooks from the eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries. -- Jacket.