Unit 3 Math Research Paper

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The three mathematicians I chose are as follows: Johann Heinrich Lambert, Evariste Galois, and David Hilbert. Johann Heinrich Lambert was an 18th century mathematician, and his contribution to trigonometry was providing evidence that “Pi” is irrational. His contribution was important because “Pi” is used for finding the circumference of a circle to its diameter. In addition, Evariste Galois was a 19th century mathematician, and his contribution to trigonometry was discovering the theory of polynomial equations. His contribution was important because he proved that there is no general algebraic method for solving polynomial equations of any exponent greater than four. Lastly, David Hilbert was a 20th century mathematician, and his contribution included more complex trigonometry problems. He discovered a new formal set of geometrical axioms, known as Hilbert’s axioms. Also, he showed that there were an infinite number of possible equations. …show more content…

From creating this timeline, I concluded that trig functions dealing with triangles derived from astronomy. This fact is interesting to me because I can picture in my mind how the brilliant people from that time period came up with that idea. Also, it is interesting because I have seen a lot of movie that use that same concept of measuring the stars to where they are going.

Question 6: The most surprising fact I learned from researching this topic is definitely how ironic it is that circles were the first documented type of trig problems. Before I got in Pre Calculus, I used to think circles were not a part of Trigonometry. The only shape I thought was taught in trigonometry was triangles. I used to think that way because of the “Tri” prefix, which means three, in both words. Recently, I learned that there are triangles inside circles. All in all, circles were not my first guest of the first trig problem.

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