Pleasant, useful, accurate

[arisbe]

That's what I'm looking for in trigonometry!

From down under via daoistraver:

"Professor Wildberger says that distance is not the best way to measure the separation of two points and an angle is not the best way to measure the separation of two lines.

"'It's not the concept that leads to a mathematics that is the most pleasant and the most useful and the most accurate,' he said."

Comments

[yechezkiel.livejournal.com]

huh!

[nandan.livejournal.com]

That's really fascinating! Thanks.

Do you know that in the entire year that I took Trigonometry, and HATED it, in high school, not a single person ever said to me: The key purpose of trigonometry is to understand the relationships between the corners and sides of triangles.

I hate math teachers.

[ashley-y.livejournal.com]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_trigonometry

[arisbe.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Must study.

[hypomnesis.livejournal.com]

Oh say that's grand. I use trigonometry constantly in my little drafting projects, and anything that could make it a little more practical is always helpful!