100 Years to Solve an Integral (2020)
(liorsinai.github.io)
The integral of sec(x) is well known to any beginners calculus student. Yet this integral was once a major outstanding maths problem. It was first introduced by Geradus Mercator who needed it to make his famous map in 1569. He couldn’t find it and used an approximation instead. The exact solution was found accidentally 86 years later without calculus in 1645.
The integral of sec(x) is well known to any beginners calculus student. Yet this integral was once a major outstanding maths problem. It was first introduced by Geradus Mercator who needed it to make his famous map in 1569. He couldn’t find it and used an approximation instead. The exact solution was found accidentally 86 years later without calculus in 1645.