• Journal for History of Mathematics
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.147-166
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• 2007

This study is about the law of cosines. It dealt with its historical origin and the developmental process of the age of Greece, Islam and Modern age. Especially, we tried to find out how the extension of the law of cosines for spherical triangles and tetrahedron from the law of cosines for plane was done. On the basis of this analysis, we investigated how the law of cosines was generated and proved it through the logical demonstration and mathematical induction. This made us find out the mathematical meaning of mathematical concepts.

• Journal for History of Mathematics
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.21-34
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• 2023

Spherical trigonometry refers to the geometry related to spherical triangles. It has been an important tool for studying astronomy since ancient times. In trigonometry, concepts such as trigonometric functions naturally emerge from the relationship between arcs and chords of a circle. In this paper, we briefly examine the origin of spherical trigonometry. To introduce the basics of spherical trigonometry, we present fundamental and important theorems such as Menelaus's theorem, the law of sines and the law of cosines on a sphere, along with their proofs. Furthermore, we discuss the educational value and potential applications of spherical trigonometry.