- #1
Saladsamurai
- 3,020
- 7
I was just browsing through my textbook in the section on hyperbolic trig functions. It defines sinhx to be [tex]\frac{e^x-e^{-x}}{2}[/tex], which comes from breaking the function [tex]f(x)=e^x[/tex] into two functions, the other of which forms coshx.
Oddly enough, this is one of the only sections in the text that does not include a brief history of the topic at hand.
I came across one site that said that a Lambert discovered (or created, I don't know which) the hyperbolic functions.
Does anyone know of any good sources where I could get the rundown on the history of these things.
I am just curious as to why someone would have wanted to break [tex]e^x[/tex] into parts in the first place.
I know that the hyperbolic functions will serve some purposes in integration, but I would assume that that was not their original intent.
Any insight would be appreciated,
Casey
Oddly enough, this is one of the only sections in the text that does not include a brief history of the topic at hand.
I came across one site that said that a Lambert discovered (or created, I don't know which) the hyperbolic functions.
Does anyone know of any good sources where I could get the rundown on the history of these things.
I am just curious as to why someone would have wanted to break [tex]e^x[/tex] into parts in the first place.
I know that the hyperbolic functions will serve some purposes in integration, but I would assume that that was not their original intent.
Any insight would be appreciated,
Casey