tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-116259103207720939.post301529073054074797..comments2024-03-27T03:56:50.876-04:00Comments on AWOL - The Ancient World Online: Online Exhibit: Before PythagorasChuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-116259103207720939.post-66781330794562114232012-05-23T11:37:42.156-04:002012-05-23T11:37:42.156-04:00Plimpton 322 consists of trigonometric tables in a...Plimpton 322 consists of trigonometric tables in a very condensed form to economise on cuneiform space. The angles are from 30 degrees to 45 degrees, though for cotangents this gives the information for 45 degrees to 60 degrees. The great mystery as to whether the first column does or does not include 1 is explained by sec squared exceeding tan squared by 1, so this coluimn can economically show both. Finding the square roots gives secants and tangents for which there are columns from which sines or cosecants can be calculated. We are not told this, but the other degrees can be calculated by the half angle formula cotu+cosecu equals cot u/2.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com