Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics concerned with the relationships between the angles and side lengths of triangles, with its trigonometric functions relating the angles of a right triangle to the ratios of its sides. The discipline developed in the Hellenistic period around the third century BC out of geometric methods applied to astronomy, and Indian mathematicians later produced the first known tables of trigonometric ratios such as the sine.
Facts
Central QuestionTrigonometry asks how the angles and side lengths of triangles relate to one another, and how those relationships can be captured as functions usable for computation in astronomy, navigation and surveying. 1 Key DebateHistorians dispute where trigonometry as its own independent mathematical discipline actually began, whether with the chord tables the Hellenistic Greeks Hipparchus and Ptolemy built for astronomy, or only later with the Persian polymath Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, who has been credited as the first to treat it as a discipline separate from astronomy. 1 Classification
Pure or AppliedBoth / Interdisciplinary 1 Connections
Associated With
Source Trigonometry (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Trigonometry (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
Trigonometry (from Ancient Greek τρίγωνον (trígōnon) 'triangle' and μέτρον (métron) 'measure') is a branch of mathematics concerned with relationships between angles and side lengths of triangles.
History section, Nasir al-Din al-Tusi passage
The Persian polymath Nasir al-Din al-Tusi has been described as the creator of trigonometry as a mathematical discipline in its own right. He was the first to treat trigonometry as a mathematical discipline independent from astronomy, and he developed spherical trigonometry into its present form.
Associated With: Geometry, Wikipedia lead paragraph, Trigonometry
The field emerged in the Hellenistic world during the 3rd century BC from applications of geometry to astronomical studies.
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