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Science

NNadir

(34,115 posts)

13. The clear advantage of the trigonometry I use over that used by the Babylonians, is that I can...

Reply to eShirl (Original post)

Sun Aug 27, 2017, 04:22 PM

Aug 2017

...calculate any value I need for any engineering or scientific task in nanoseconds on a computer.

The statement that the Babylonians had "simpler, more accurate" trigonometry is just silly.

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Babylonian trigonometry "simpler, more accurate... has clear advantages over our own." [View all] eShirl Aug 2017 OP

"only completely accurate trigonometric table" -- an exceptional claim, requiring exceptional proof. eppur_se_muova Aug 2017 #1

Maybe they figured out how to make pi3... Wounded Bear Aug 2017 #2

I defer to those who know trig eShirl Aug 2017 #4

Did you watch the video? Jim__ Aug 2017 #5

It's the kind of sci-babble that happens when they try to explain something to the uneducated Binkie The Clown Aug 2017 #6

It wasn't an approximation, the tables ARE exact. hunter Aug 2017 #8

I want to know what they mean by 'simplified' values muriel_volestrangler Aug 2017 #9

They do clarify that in the paper. Jim__ Aug 2017 #11

I think it made more sense to someone having an intimate familiarity with sexagesimal fractions hunter Aug 2017 #12

I would also like to know what they meant by that FiveGoodMen Aug 2017 #7

Sounds to me like they used the next-more-complicated version of fractional numbers. DetlefK Aug 2017 #3

The full article in Historia Mathematica is available Jim__ Aug 2017 #10

The clear advantage of the trigonometry I use over that used by the Babylonians, is that I can... NNadir Aug 2017 #13