   Books on Circle/Sphere Geometry?
  Just out of interest, anyone know of good reference books, focusing on circle and sphere geometry calculations? Bit like a formula cookbook! Suggestions appreciated. :)   
  If a book on spheres does exist, it would likely just be a pamphlet. The only query I've ever had to worry about is to see if a point was on or in an ellipsoid.I'm sure books on analytic geometry as a subject are all over the place. (Google it, I got many results.) I have my doubts on books just covering spheres, though.   ;  I disagree with zyrolasting. A book on spheres could be almost arbitrarily thick. It could talk about conic sections and quadrics, about the implications of curvature (the angles of a triangle add up to more than 180 degrees), about the complex projective line (a.k.a. Riemann sphere), about map projections (cartography), about spheres in higher dimension and their topological invariants (e.g., Poincare's conjecture)...A quick search in Amazon shows this book about planes and spheres and a couple of books involving higher Math.;  What you need is "Spherical trigonometry", a common subject taught in Europe but not in America.It is also a specialty for maritime navigating officers . You will learn that it is possible, and common to have a triangle with 3 angles of 90 degrees.A Google search will dump you tons of infos, and formulasEnjoyEpilot10merchant marine officer.   ;Quote:Original post by epilot10What you need is "Spherical trigonometry", a common subject taught in Europe but not in America.I think it's more an old-fashioned branch of Math. I have a degree in Geometry from a European university and I didn't take spherical trigonometry at all. I probably did learn enough general geometry to be able to figure things out if I need to, though.   ;  European education isn't uniform. In Italy I never had courses on that subject, but in Berlin it's taught. Look for example at the basic BMS course in Geometry (Geometry I). I also suggest this book on Möbius differential geometry if you are interested in a more differential geometric point of view.@alvaro: where are you from?   ;Quote:Original post by apatriarca@alvaro: where are you from?Spain.   ;3D Math Primer for Graphics and Game DevelopmentNow, I find that their writing style is a little unclear at times, but it's a decent "recipes" book all around.Fortunately they have the source code online for free:http://gamemath.com/downloads.htmThis book might also help as a secondary reference, though I've never read it:Mathematics for 3D Game Programming & Computer GraphicsI find that the more books I have at hand on one subject, the better I'll be at being able to clear up any ambiguities as to what's actually going on. More points of view, the better.Finally, I always recommend this book;Mathematics: From the Birth of NumbersThis last book is also a "recipes" type book, giving concrete examples. The sections on geometry and linear algebra are very enlightening. It's also a great history book as well. If there was ever a book that I truly love reading, it's this one.   ;  You should just invest in a CRC ... I'm sure that it'll contain all of the formulas you need regarding spherical geometry and spherical trig ... and it's pretty easy to pick up an older one used for not much money -- just ask around at used bookstores in a college town.   ;  Excellent, thanks for your suggestions. Should be a good starting point.Quote:zyrolasting:If a book on spheres does exist, it would likely just be a pamphlet. The only query I've ever had to worry about is to see if a point was on or in an ellipsoid.I'm sure books on analytic geometry as a subject are all over the place. (Google it, I got many results.) I have my doubts on books just covering spheres, though.Considering Menelaus of Alexandria wrote an entire book spherical trigonometry about 2000 years ago, I'd say it is a fairly rich topic. And yes, of course I use Google; and the reason why I want a book, so I don't have to. Internet searches can be a real hit-and-miss affair at times. I was after something fairly comprehensive.