Abstract
BOTH these works are elementary: their scope is in the main limited by the requirements of the Previous Examination at Cambridge, and of the Entrance Examinations for the army. Mr. Lock's is by far the fuller work, and is well adapted for a student who has not constantly at hand the assistance of a private tutor; in fact, such a reader, if of fair intelligence, might be independent of extraneous aid, if he have previously grounded himself carefully in geometry and elementary algebra. The work contains a very large collection of good (and not too hard) examples. The only fault—if we must grumble—is that there is too much, we think, for ordinary school teaching. As Mr. Vyvyan remarks, “in all public schools but a few hours a week can be given to mathematics by the generality of boys,” and trigonometry has to take, in general, a very small portion of that limited time. But Mr. Lock is to be congratulated, when so many “Trigonometries” are in the field, on having produced so good a book, for he has not merely availed himself of the labours of his predecessors, but by his treatment of a well-worn subject has invested the study of it with interest. The figures are numerous, and are drawn so that the salient features arrest the eye at once.
A Treatise on Elementary Trigonometry.
By the Rev. J. B. Lock. (Macmillan, 1882.)
Introduction to Plane Trigonometry.
By the Rev. T. G. Vyvyan. (Deighton, Bell, and Co., 1882.)
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
[Book Reviews]. Nature 26, 124 (1882). https://doi.org/10.1038/026124a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/026124a0