A Mathematical Gift, II (Q4458841)

The second volume of a two-volume gift of mathematics [Part I, ibid. 19 (2003; Zbl 1034.57001)], with lectures on maths for high school students, is dedicated to trigonometric functions and the Poncelet Theorem. The third Chapter (the first of this volume), called The Legacy of Trigonometric Functions and based on a lecture given by the second author, covers the history of trigonometric functions. Considering these functions born from studying a circle and expressing the infinity hidden in circles, the authors reach the concept of power series expansion of functions. Gauss, Abel and their contemporaries at the beginning of the 19th century, dealing with ellipses, have discovered the elliptic functions. In the second lecture of this chapter, the author presents ellipses, lemniscates, Multiple-Angle Formulas, the Addition Formula for the Lemniscate Sine, Arithmetic and Geometric Means. The main theme of Chapter 4, which comes from a lecture of the first author, is a geometric theorem called the Poncelet closure theorem. In a sense, the discussion in this chapter is an introduction to algebraic geometry. Exploring the relationship between ellipses and tangent lines, which appear in the theorem from the point of view of algebraic geometry, we arrive at the intersection point of geometry and algebra. Each proof given in this book has an extreme beauty of simplicity showing the depth of the Poncelet theorem. In the case where circles are used in place of ellipses the theorem is proved using the periodicy of elliptic integrals. For circles the authors prove the theorem within the framework of plane geometry using properties of coaxial circles. The complex numbers permeate through geometry and The Poncelet theorem in the World of Complex Numbers is also presented. In the Appendix the geometric proof of the Poncelet Theorem is included an elegant theorem in plane geometry.