astronomy

Glen Van Brummelen

Glen Van Brummelen is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Glen Van Brummelen rather than just read about it. In short: Glen Robert Van Brummelen (born May 20, 1965) is a Canadian historian of mathematics specializing in the history of trigonometry and historical applications of mathematics to astronomy. He is president of the Canadian Society for History and Philosophy of Mathematics, and was a co-editor of Mathematics and the Historian's Craft: The Kenneth O.

Key takeaways

Glen Van Brummelen belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Glen Van Brummelen to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Glen Van Brummelen from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Glen Robert Van Brummelen (born May 20, 1965) is a Canadian historian of mathematics specializing in the history of trigonometry and historical applications of mathematics to astronomy. He is president of the Canadian Society for History and Philosophy of Mathematics, and was a co-editor of Mathematics and the Historian's Craft: The Kenneth O. May Lectures (Springer, 2005). He has been involved in the summer program Mathpath since 2004 and is the creator of "Glensheep" and their evolution.

Life Van Brummelen earned his PhD degree from Simon Fraser University in 1993, and served as a professor of mathematics at Bennington College from 1999 to 2006. He then transferred to Quest University Canada as a founding faculty member. In 2020, he became the dean of the Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC. Glen Van Brummelen has published the first major history in English of the origins and early development of trigonometry, The Mathematics of the Heavens and the Earth: The Early History of Trigonometry. His second book, Heavenly Mathematics: The Forgotten Art of Spherical Trigonometry, concerns spherical trigonometry. In 2016 he received a Deborah and Franklin Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics.

Works The Mathematics of the Heavens and the Earth: The Early History of Trigonometry Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2009. ISBN 9780691129730, OCLC 750691811 Heavenly Mathematics: The Forgotten Art of Spherical Trigonometry Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2013. ISBN 9780691175997, OCLC 988234342 Trigonometry: A Very Short Introduction; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2020 ISBN 9780198814313, OCLC 1101269106 The Doctrine of Triangles: The History of Modern Trigonometry Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2021 ISBN 978-0691179414, OCLC 1201300540

References

External links Homepage at Bennington College Glen R. Van Brummelen, Ph.D. homepage at Trinity Western University Publication list Trigonometry Book page

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Glen Van Brummelen

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Glen Van Brummelen claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Glen Van Brummelen before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Glen Van Brummelen ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Glen Van Brummelen

In research: Glen Van Brummelen appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Glen Van Brummelen in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Glen Van Brummelen is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1965 births, Academic staff of Trinity Western University, Bennington College faculty, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Glen Van Brummelen outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Glen Van Brummelen in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Glen Van Brummelen means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Glen Van Brummelen out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Glen Van Brummelen in simple terms?

Why does Glen Van Brummelen matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Glen Van Brummelen?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Glen Van Brummelen.