Skip to main content

Trigonometry in Islamic Mathematics

  • Reference work entry
  • 406 Accesses

Trigonometry is the connecting link between mathematics and astronomy, between the way calendars are calculated, the gnomon, and the sundial. In the Islamic world, the calculation of spherical triangles was necessary to carry out ritual customs. The qibla, the direction to Mecca, was indicated next to the hour lines on all public sundials.

The first trigonometric problems appeared in the field of spherical astronomy. Around the year 773 one of the Indian siddhāntas (astronomy books) was made known in Baghdad. The Indian astronomers Varāhamihira (fifth century) and Brahmagupta (sixth century) solved different problems in spherical astronomy by means of rules equivalent to a general sine theorem for a spherical triangle ABC with sides a, b, c and angles A, B, C (where angle A is opposite to side a, etc.), namely and to the cosine theorem for the same triangle

In the ninth century Ptolemy's Almagest and Menelaus’ Sphericswere also translated, and commentaries were written to these...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   609.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • von Braunmühl, Anton. Vorlesungen über Geschichte der Trigonometrie. Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1900; Rpt. Wiesbaden: Sändig, 1971.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruins, Evert M. Ptolemaic and Islamic Trigonometry: The Problem of the Qibla. Journal for the History of Arabic Science 9.2 (1991): 45–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Debarnot, Marie‐Thérese. Kitāb Maqālīd ˓Ilm al‐Hay'a: la Trigonométrie Sphérique chez les Arabes de l'Est à la Fin du X e Siècle. Damascus: Institut français de Damas, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  • Juschkewitsch, A. P. Geschichte der Mathematik im Mittelalter. Teubner: Leipzig, 1964.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, E. S. A Survey of Islamic Astronomical Tables. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1956.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York

About this entry

Cite this entry

Rosenfeld, S.C.B.A. (2008). Trigonometry in Islamic Mathematics. In: Selin, H. (eds) Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_9754

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_9754

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-4559-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4425-0

  • eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law

Publish with us

Policies and ethics