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Topic: looking for good trig starter (Read 2472 times) |
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nine6
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looking for good trig starter
« on: Sep 24th, 2004, 3:27am » |
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hi there,
seeing as how all of you seem to be math whizzes...
i need a good trig starting guide. preferably
not a textbook as textbooks take the life out
of any subject. something well written for the
layman would be nice. or perhaps you could just
download something straight to my brain's knowledge
core. either way would be fine.
thanks!!!
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rgovostes
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Re: looking for good trig starter
« Reply #1 on: Sep 24th, 2004, 4:12am » |
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I like Math World site, http://mathworld.wolfram.com
But not...
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nine6
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Re: looking for good trig starter
« Reply #2 on: Sep 27th, 2004, 2:32am » |
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the math world site is nice. unfortunately you kind
of have to know what you are looking for to find it.
i was thinking more old school. like a book. just
not a texbook. something that delves more into theory
and the why and why-nots. kind of a balanced left-brain, right-brain approach. i'm not a very methodical
person and if its not interesting i quite literally
cant read it. (ADD and all)
i could just be dreaming here.
BTW i notice most of the people here are from somewhere
other than the US. doesnt speak very well of the US
educational system. lucky we've got the dollar or
we wouldnt have anything to brag about.
cheers
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adm
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Re: looking for good trig starter
« Reply #3 on: Sep 27th, 2004, 5:28am » |
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hey nine6,
I picked up most of my remedial trig knowledge from a Flash ActionScript book called "Robert Penner's Programming Flash MX". The book has a lot to offer anyone who is looking into getting into that sort of thing and has application way broader than Flash. Penner has a great analogy for explaining the ratios of trigonometry that I won't be able to do justice myself here right now so I won't even try. But I think you might find it helpful. The book also goes into sections on simulating physics that you might find useful too. More info at www.robertpenner.com
Also, a while back, in a struggle to understand trig, I made this little applet: http://www.a2l2.com/~aaron/trigDemo01/
maybe you'll find it helpful.
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| « Last Edit: Sep 27th, 2004, 5:28am by adm » |
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Frederik
 
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Re: looking for good trig starter
« Reply #4 on: Oct 7th, 2004, 11:29pm » |
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Hi nine6,
trig, hmmm, where to start...
Judging from your posts you don't feel like plowing through basic math texts offering you oodles of abstract formulae. Unlike for example physics, there's no mathematical tradition of writing books for the layman. Mathbooks try to turn you into a mathematician 
Luckily for common things, there are enough online references - I find that typing the question in Google normally gives you all the info you need (like "how do i find the intersection of 2 lines").
On the other hand, the moment you start with more complex applets, you won't find texts describing 'exactly' what you want to do. And that's where all that abstract stuff comes in handy.
Unfortunately, our brain's knowledge core has an archaic interface with no support for direct download. Even worse, the original developer is still working on a few billion bugs so don't expect an upgrade soon 
I would short-circuit the traditional educational approach. Instead of reading a primer, just jump in, try to figure out the stuff you want to do right now. When stuck, submit your questions to the forum. More often than not, a solution pops up.
Then after a while, when you start to see the patterns in the solutions, pick up that no-right-brain dull primer. It'll be much easier to focus on the really useful nuggets of knowledge and discard the rest.
Anyway, ask away...
Seeya,
Frederik
http://www.wmute.org
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Upstart319
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Re: looking for good trig starter
« Reply #5 on: Nov 10th, 2004, 9:52pm » |
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Trigonometry Demystified: A Self-teaching Guide (McGraw-Hill Demystified S.) by Stan Gibilisco ISBN: 0071416315
I borrowed the title above from the library and when I flicked through it it seemed very accessible but I unfortunately never got round to reading it properly. I will though as I also want to try and get a better understanding of trig. I'm not sure it's what you're after but might be worth checking out.
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mark_key
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Re: looking for good trig starter
« Reply #6 on: Mar 23rd, 2005, 3:44pm » |
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nine,
i'm like you -> need the balanced hemispheres approach to learning. i've searched the internet for hours and have found little that makes sense to me, math-wise.
i'd like to see some tutorials that follow these steps:
1) introduce an equation/math concept
2) provide a grossly simplified explanation of the equation ('for dummies' approach)
3) provide a snippet of code that exhibits a 1-to-1 relationship between the equation and the code
4) provide a runnable program that shows the equation in action
my thoughts...
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kurol
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Re: looking for good trig starter
« Reply #7 on: Mar 29th, 2005, 12:32pm » |
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you could always just spout off your question in here. maybe there's a secret Processing IRC channel somewhere.
As for me, when I forget any trig I just look it up in the preface of my Fourier transforms book, but I've already learned trig (technically I skipped it in 7th grade and went strait to algebra).
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I hate programming . . .  
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