Talk:Robert of Chester

sine

I have removed this:

While translating Al-Khwārizmī's book about algebra, Robert of Chester made an interesting error that lives on today. Arabic script, like Hebrew script, consists of consonants with vowels punctuated above or underneath and often omitted. The sine originated in India, and was adopted by the Arabs who spelled the consonants as "jb". When Robert translated the word, not understanding the Hindu origin, he supplied Arabic vowels yielding the word for bosom, in Latin, sinus. Hence, the origin of the trigonometric function named sine.

The basic point is true (misidentification of the Arabic word), but belongs at Sine#Etymology and perhaps The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing rather than here. The cited source is unreliable and the details are contradicted by other sources, e.g. collinsdictionary, ahdictionary, etymonline; and these three Histories of Mathematics. Most notably, some ascribe to Gerard of Cremona of the Toledo School of Translators; even if Robert preceded Gerard, it may have been Gerard who popuarised the error. jnestorius^(talk) 09:37, 18 April 2021 (UTC)

References

Additional Info

Current included references to ROC's translated works ('The book of the composition of alchemy' and 'The compendious book on calculation by completion and balancing') seem to be presented and summarized well. There are additional key translated works that should be included, one being ROC's translation of the 'Koran'[1]. It seems Robert also had contributions in astronomy and mathematics that must be included as well[1].

[1]

Sekrumpe (talk) 17:15, 18 February 2022 (UTC)

References