Trigonometry Redefined without Sines And Cosines

I'm certainly no mathematician, but I found this interesting. A mathematician in South Wales has published a book that redefined trigonometry with the use of sines, cosines or tangents. I remember how difficult it was to remember all the trigonometric identities (still don't know 'em). I have found simple trig to be very helpful, but significantly more difficult when trying to learn Fourier Transforms or integral calculus, which all use the concepts from "basic" trig.

For an audio engineer with a natural curiosity for all things that help me to better understand the nature of my job, I have looked long and hard at trig functions in relation to audio and wave propagation. The notion that maybe some of that pain involved in trig can be simplified to something that looks a lot like 5th grade fractions is appealing.

I do wonder if the concepts can be applied to other areas of calculus, and that I might actually be able to understand the FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) sooner rather than later.

There is a sample chapter available on N J Wildberger's web site.

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