Abstract
AT the end of the preface of the first edition of Hutton's Mathematical Tables (1785) is the following postscript:—“P.S.—Since my History of Trigonometrical Tables in the following Introduction was printed, there has been published in the ‘Philosophical Transactions’ for the year 1784, a paper of mine concerning a project for the trigonometrical tables to be constructed on a new plan, namely, in which the arc of the quadrant is divided into aliquot parts of the radius, or according to the real lengths of the arcs, which construction is now in some degree of forwardness, as myself and several assistants have been closely engaged in the execution of it ever since.” And in the succeeding editions, down to the sixth, 1822, there occurs on p. 2 of the Introduction the following remark:—“But the complete reformation would be to express all arcs by their real lengths, namely, in equal parts of the radius decimally divided, according to which method I have nearly completed a table of sines and tangents.” Hutton died in 1823, and I can find no further reference to the table in question. I feel pretty certain that it has never been published, and there is no other paper on the same subject (except that in the Phil. Trans., 1784) of Hutton's referred to in Watt's “Bibliotheca” or the Royal Society's Catalogue.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
GLAISHER, J. Hutton's Trigonometrical Tables, for Arcs expressed as portions of the Radius. Nature 6, 414 (1872). https://doi.org/10.1038/006414a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/006414a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.