I am not drunk and babbling gibberish. This is news. One fundamental theory which aims to make the use of trigonometry easier and more accurate. Proposed by Dr Norman Wildberger, a professor at University of New South Wales, this theory replaces angles to which we are so much used to by now, with a concept called as ‘spread’.

Here’s an excerpt from an article about this theory.

Established by the ancient Greeks and Romans, trigonometry is used in surveying, navigation, engineering, construction and the sciences to calculate the relationships between the sides and vertices of triangles.

“Generations of students have struggled with classical trigonometry because the framework is wrong,” says Wildberger, whose book is titled Divine Proportions: Rational Trigonometry to Universal Geometry (Wild Egg books).

Dr Wildberger has replaced traditional ideas of angles and distance with new concepts called “spread” and “quadrance”.

These new concepts mean that trigonometric problems can be done with algebra,” says Wildberger, an associate professor of mathematics at UNSW.

He has also written a book called ‘The Divine Proportions : Rational Trigonometry to Universal Geometry‘ by N J Wildberger. There is a chapter available for preview.

On first look, the concepts are straightforward in a logical sense. But i do not see how it simplifies and eliminates the calculations that are presently being done with sines and cosines. Well that’s just me and i could be wrong ! Maybe this is a revolutionary theory that is going to change how we look at things in the future.

Quote of the day

“Sure, the lion is king of the jungle but airdrop him into Antarctica and he’s just a penguin’s bitch”

– Dennis Miller

A very interesting, perspective invoking picture of a 4D cube. Well ironically, its name is still a Cube in 4D.

Here’s a 4-D visualization of the cube in a raytraced Povray version of the picture.

Check out this site for more interesting trivia, facts and pictures related to math !

The first cocktail ever made was in Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago, using wine, beer, apple juice and honey. Patrick McGovern defined the mix as “grog”, an archaic drink in the United States is sold as the “Midas Touch”. McGovern, a University Professor at Pennsylvania, one of the most important authorities in chemistry applied in archaeology, presented the results of a research on the banks of the Tigris between Iran and Iraq. This was said at the first day of the international convention on the archaeological study of wine organised in Scansano (Grosseto), land of the Morellino, by the City of Wine National Association and the University of Siena. In his report, McGovern spoke of the history of the evolution of wine-making in the east and west, giving analyses that prove how in some terracotta containers found on the banks of the Tigris river there were traces of tartaric acid (obtained during grape fermentation), honey, apples and fermented barley (used in beer). ‘Grog’ was also used by Etruscans, as can be proved through some containers found in southern Tuscany. The convention highlighted that the sylvan grapes were present in Etruria 6,000 years ago, much before the Greeks’ wine culture. Basically the Etruscans knew wine, so its use could have been already known before the Greeks in the Mediterranean. (AGI) .

Link

Wow, cool. Did anyone know that there is an archaeological study of wine ?? It is just amazing what people end up doing for a lifetime. And yeah, next time i’m in a bar, I’m going to try the Midas Touch. I think it is going to be one sweet drink !

From Sep 4, 2005:

On the eve of my birthday, with a sambar rice in hand, beer to go with it, destiny it seems, i had to see this particular post. How unfortunate and masochistically delicious.

Do i miss that Gulti food and full meals ? Hell yeah. If you ask me, nothing like it. Those who still have the chance, rejoice it for me too. You probably do not comprehend what you are missing !

Anyway, adios. I am one more year older today. Sob. Sob.

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<br />Good old ASCII never ceases to surprise !

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  France acknowledges the need for full international civilian nuclear co-operation with India and will work towards this objective by working with other countries and the NSG and by deepening bilateral co-operation.
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  France appreciated India’s strong commitment to preventing WMD proliferation and the ongoing steps it is taking in this regard. In this context, both countries will also work towards conclusion of a bilateral nuclear co-operation agreement.
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