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Canon Sinuum (Bürgi)
The ''Canon Sinuum'' was a historic table of sines thought to have given the sines to 8 sexagesimal places between 0 and 90 degrees in steps of 2 arc seconds. Some authors believe that the table was only between 0 and 45 degrees. It was created by Jost Bürgi at the end of the 16th century. Such tables were essential for navigation at sea. Johannes Kepler called the ''Canon Sinuum'' the most precise known table of sines. This table is thought to be lost. The ''Canon Sinuum'' was computed by Bürgi's algorithms explained in his work Fundamentum Astronomiae presented to Emperor Rudolf II. in 1592.Staudacher, S., 2014. Jost Bürgi, Kepler und der Kaiser. Verlag NZZ, Zürich. These algorithms made use of differences and were one of the early uses of difference calculus. The largest trigonometrical table actually contained in the Fundamentum Astronomiae is a table giving the sines for every minute of the quadrant and to 5 to 7 sexagesimal places. The manuscript of Fundamentum Ast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sine
In mathematics, sine and cosine are trigonometric functions of an angle. The sine and cosine of an acute angle are defined in the context of a right triangle: for the specified angle, its sine is the ratio of the length of the side opposite that angle to the length of the longest side of the triangle (the hypotenuse), and the cosine is the ratio of the length of the adjacent leg to that of the hypotenuse. For an angle \theta, the sine and cosine functions are denoted as \sin(\theta) and \cos(\theta). The definitions of sine and cosine have been extended to any real value in terms of the lengths of certain line segments in a unit circle. More modern definitions express the sine and cosine as infinite series, or as the solutions of certain differential equations, allowing their extension to arbitrary positive and negative values and even to complex numbers. The sine and cosine functions are commonly used to model periodic phenomena such as sound and light waves, the posit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Degree (angle)
A degree (in full, a degree of arc, arc degree, or arcdegree), usually denoted by ° (the degree symbol), is a measurement of a plane (mathematics), plane angle in which one Turn (geometry), full rotation is 360 degrees. It is not an SI unit—the SI unit of angular measure is the radian—but it is mentioned in the SI Brochure, SI brochure as an Non-SI units mentioned in the SI, accepted unit. Because a full rotation equals 2 radians, one degree is equivalent to radians. History The original motivation for choosing the degree as a unit of rotations and angles is unknown. One theory states that it is related to the fact that 360 is approximately the number of days in a year. Ancient astronomers noticed that the sun, which follows through the ecliptic path over the course of the year, seems to advance in its path by approximately one degree each day. Some ancient calendars, such as the Iranian calendar, Persian calendar and the Babylonian calendar, used 360 days for a year. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arc Seconds
A minute of arc, arcminute (abbreviated as arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of a degree. Since one degree is of a turn, or complete rotation, one arcminute is of a turn. The nautical mile (nmi) was originally defined as the arc length of a minute of latitude on a spherical Earth, so the actual Earth's circumference is very near . A minute of arc is of a radian. A second of arc, arcsecond (abbreviated as arcsec), or arc second, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of a minute of arc, of a degree, of a turn, and (about ) of a radian. These units originated in Babylonian astronomy as sexagesimal (base 60) subdivisions of the degree; they are used in fields that involve very small angles, such as astronomy, optometry, ophthalmology, optics, navigation, land surveying, and marksmanship. To express even smaller angles, standard SI prefixes can be employed; the milliarcse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jost Bürgi
Jost Bürgi (also ''Joost, Jobst''; Latinized surname ''Burgius'' or ''Byrgius''; 28 February 1552 – 31 January 1632), active primarily at the courts in Kassel and Prague, was a Swiss clockmaker, mathematician, and writer. Life Bürgi was born in 1552 Lichtensteig, Toggenburg, at the time a subject territory of the Abbey of St. Gall (now part of the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland). Not much is known about his life or education before his employment as astronomer and clockmaker at the court of William IV in Kassel in 1579; it has been theorized that he acquired his mathematical knowledge at Strasbourg, among others from Swiss mathematician Conrad Dasypodius, but there are no facts to support this. Although an autodidact, he was already during his lifetime considered as one of the most excellent mechanical engineers of his generation. His employer, William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, in a letter to Tycho Brahe praised Bürgi as a "second Archimedes" (''quasi in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
16th Century
The 16th century began with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (represented by the Roman numerals MDI) and ended with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (MDC), depending on the reckoning used (the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582). The Renaissance in Italy and Europe saw the emergence of important artists, authors and scientists, and led to the foundation of important subjects which include accounting and political science. Copernicus proposed the Copernican heliocentrism, heliocentric universe, which was met with strong resistance, and Tycho Brahe refuted the theory of celestial spheres through observational measurement of the SN 1572, 1572 appearance of a Milky Way supernova. These events directly challenged the long-held notion of an immutable universe supported by Ptolemy and Aristotle, and led to major revolutions in astronomy and science. Galileo Galilei became a champion of the new sciences, invented the first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Navigation
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, marine navigation, air navigation, aeronautic navigation, and space navigation. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks. All navigational techniques involve locating the navigator's Position (geometry), position compared to known locations or patterns. Navigation, in a broader sense, can refer to any skill or study that involves the determination of position and Relative direction, direction. In this sense, navigation includes orienteering and pedestrian navigation. For marine navigation, this involves the safe movement of ships, boats and other nautical craft either on or underneath the water using positions from navigation equipment with appropriate nautical char ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler (27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his Kepler's laws of planetary motion, laws of planetary motion, and his books ''Astronomia nova'', ''Harmonice Mundi'', and ''Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae'', influencing among others Isaac Newton, providing one of the foundations for his theory of Newton's law of universal gravitation, universal gravitation. The variety and impact of his work made Kepler one of the founders and fathers of modern astronomy, the scientific method, Natural science, natural and modern science. He has been described as the "father of science fiction" for his novel ''Somnium (novel), Somnium''. Kepler was a mathematics teacher at a seminary school in Graz, where he became an associate of Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg, Prince Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg. Lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for performing calculations and data processing. More advanced algorithms can use Conditional (computer programming), conditionals to divert the code execution through various routes (referred to as automated decision-making) and deduce valid inferences (referred to as automated reasoning). In contrast, a Heuristic (computer science), heuristic is an approach to solving problems without well-defined correct or optimal results.David A. Grossman, Ophir Frieder, ''Information Retrieval: Algorithms and Heuristics'', 2nd edition, 2004, For example, although social media recommender systems are commonly called "algorithms", they actually rely on heuristics as there is no truly "correct" recommendation. As an e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fundamentum Astronomiae
''Fundamentum Astronomiae'' is a historic manuscript presented by Jost Bürgi to Emperor Rudolf II in 1592. It describes Bürgi's trigonometry based algorithms called Kunstweg which can be used to calculate sines at arbitrary precision.Staudacher, S., 2014. Jost Bürgi, ''Kepler und der Kaiser''. Verlag NZZ, Zürich. General Bürgi took special care to avoid his method becoming public in his time. However, Henry Briggs (mathematician) (1561-1630) was acquainted with the method, likely via a link to John Dee who knew Christoph Rothmann, a colleague of Bürgi at the court. Method Bürgi used these algorithms, including multiplication table in sexagesimal system, to compute a '' Canon Sinuum'', a table of sines to 8 sexagesimal places in steps of 2 arc seconds. Such tables were extremely important for navigation at sea. Bürgi's method only uses additions and halving, his procedure is elementary and it converges from the standard method. The iterative algorithm obtains good appro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Difference Calculus
A finite difference is a mathematical expression of the form . Finite differences (or the associated difference quotients) are often used as approximations of derivatives, such as in numerical differentiation. The difference operator, commonly denoted \Delta, is the operator that maps a function to the function \Delta /math> defined by \Delta x) = f(x+1)-f(x). A difference equation is a functional equation that involves the finite difference operator in the same way as a differential equation involves derivatives. There are many similarities between difference equations and differential equations. Certain recurrence relations can be written as difference equations by replacing iteration notation with finite differences. In numerical analysis, finite differences are widely used for approximating derivatives, and the term "finite difference" is often used as an abbreviation of "finite difference approximation of derivatives". Finite differences were introduced by Brook Taylor i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wrocław
Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, roughly from the Sudetes, Sudeten Mountains to the north. In 2023, the official population of Wrocław was 674,132, making it the third-largest city in Poland. The population of the Wrocław metropolitan area is around 1.25 million. Wrocław is the historical capital of Silesia and Lower Silesia. The history of the city dates back over 1,000 years; at various times, it has been part of the Kingdom of Poland, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Habsburg monarchy of Austria, the Kingdom of Prussia and German Reich, Germany, until it became again part of Poland in 1945 immediately after World War II. Wrocław is a College town, university city with a student population of over 130,000, making it one of the most yo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ptolemy's Table Of Chords
The table of chords, created by the Greece, Greek astronomer, geometer, and geographer Ptolemy in Egypt during the 2nd century AD, is a trigonometric table in Book I, chapter 11 of Ptolemy's ''Almagest'', a treatise on mathematical astronomy. It is essentially equivalent to a table of values of the sine function. It was the earliest trigonometric table extensive enough for many practical purposes, including those of astronomy (an earlier table of chords by Hipparchus gave chords only for arcs that were multiples of ). Since the 8th and 9th centuries, the sine and other trigonometric functions have been used in Islamic mathematics and astronomy, reforming the production of sine tables. Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, Khwarizmi and Habash al-Hasib al-Marwazi, Habash al-Hasib later produced a set of trigonometric tables. The chord function and the table A chord (geometry), chord of a circle is a line segment whose endpoints are on the circle. Ptolemy used a circle wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
