| Angles have long been
used to tell the time through sundials, to calculate
the position of
the planets and stars and to determine the best route
to follow at sea by ocean liners. In today’s
world, they play a crucially role in the construction
of new buildings (ever heard of a theodolite ? what
about a spirit-level ?), when aircraft make their final
descent, or in sport if you want to become a record-breaking
Javelin thrower or you need to design the steering
in a rally car.
A triangle is a closed plane figure bounded by three
straight lines meeting at 3 vertices. It is the simplest
shape with the smallest possible number of straight
sides. The ancient Greeks quickly latched on to the
power of this shape when they constructed their pyramids,
but nowadays, triangles are essential for the construction
of maps, for the simulation of images in computer
graphics (using triangular meshes), for GPS satellite
navigation and even by some animals in the pursuit
of food.
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