Excerpt from Plane Trigonometry and Applications
The characteristic features of this book may be summarized as follows:
1. The method of presentation is thoroughly heuristic. This enables the student to get a firm grasp of the subject by teaching him to recognize the fundamental ideas which underlie and unify the separate steps of the mathematical argument, instead of confusing him by a disconnected dogmatic statement of isolated facts.
2. The book is divided into two parts. The first part is devoted to the theoretical and numerical solution of triangles. The second part treats of the functions of the general angle, their addition theorems and other properties, together with applications to simple harmonic curves, simple harmonic and wave motion, and harmonic analysis. Part One is also published separately and is well adapted for use in secondary schools. The complete book is intended for the freshman course in colleges.
3. The discussion of the solution of triangles, in Part One, is not interrupted by any digressions about coordinate systems, addition theorems, and the like. It has been thought desirable to postpone to the second part the consideration of all of these matters, which are indeed important but unnecessary for the solution of triangles.
4. The definitions for the functions of an obtuse angle have been made to grow organically out of the needs of the problem of solving triangles, in a way which seems both simple and natural, and which at the same time illustrates an important principle of mathematical procedure.
5. The whole theory of triangles has been unified by giving a central position to the area problem. As a consequence, almost all of the necessary equations present themselves spontaneously and in a connected fashion. The law of tangents is the only one which causes any difficulty in this respect.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге Plane Trigonometry and Applications (Classic Reprint) (E. J. Wilczynski)