1. Benjamin Banneker and the Law of Sines.
- Author
-
Mahoney, John F.
- Subjects
- *
MATHEMATICIANS , *MATHEMATICAL analysis , *MATHEMATICAL formulas , *MATHEMATICS education , *STUDENTS - Abstract
This article discusses various issues related to the law of sine and Benjamin Banneker, a self-taught mathematician, surveyor, and astronomer from Guinea. Banneker was taught how to read and write by his grandmother. Banneker learned learnt mathematics as far as double-position as well as surveying and astronomy from books he had been lent by his teacher and neighbors. He began publishing annual almanacs containing his astronomical observations and predictions. He kept his notes in journals, but only one of the journals is preserved. This journal served as his notebook for astronomical observations his diary, and his mathematics notebook. The article further elaborates the features of mathematical thinking of Banneker, and its significance for students.
- Published
- 2005