trigonometry

4 Stories

Teens' Math Finding Was Once Thought to Be Impossible

They've discovered multiple trigonometric proofs of Pythagorean theorem

(Newser) - Two young women from New Orleans who amazed mathematicians two years ago by coming up with a new trigonometric proof of the 2,000-year-old Pythagorean theorem have repeated the feat multiple times. A peer-reviewed paper from Ne'Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson published in the American Mathematical Monthly Journal outlines...

Barkley Rewards School After Pythagorean Theorem Victory

Two New Orleans students joined mathematics record book

(Newser) - Charles Barkley was as impressed as anybody that two high school seniors in Louisiana became the second and third people in the 2,000-year history of the Pythagorean theorem to solve it using trigonometry. So after seeing their story on CBS' 60 Minutes in May, the basketball great promised to...

Tablet Shows Maybe Greeks Didn't Invent Trig After All

Researchers say Babylonians beat Greeks to trigonometry by 1,000 years

(Newser) - Greek astronomer Hipparchus is known as the father of trigonometry. But the Guardian reports Babylonian mathematicians may have gotten there 1,000 years earlier. Ever since the real-life inspiration for Indiana Jones discovered a 3,700-year-old clay tablet called P322 in what is now Iraq, historians and mathematicians have debated...

'Number Sense' Predicts Math Success: Study

Ability to guess group size linked to algebra, calculus skill

(Newser) - The skill of estimating group size at a glance is directly linked to success in higher forms of math like algebra and calculus, reports the Washington Post. A new study found that students with better “number sense”—the ability to quickly and accurately guess numbers in a group—...

4 Stories