<P> Early study of triangles can be traced to the 2nd millennium BC , in Egyptian mathematics ( Rhind Mathematical Papyrus ) and Babylonian mathematics . Systematic study of trigonometric functions began in Hellenistic mathematics , reaching India as part of Hellenistic astronomy . In Indian astronomy , the study of trigonometric functions flourished in the Gupta period , especially due to Aryabhata ( sixth century CE ) . During the Middle Ages , the study of trigonometry continued in Islamic mathematics , hence it was adopted as a separate subject in the Latin West beginning in the Renaissance with Regiomontanus . The development of modern trigonometry shifted during the western Age of Enlightenment , beginning with 17th - century mathematics ( Isaac Newton and James Stirling ) and reaching its modern form with Leonhard Euler ( 1748 ) . </P>
<P> Early study of triangles can be traced to the 2nd millennium BC , in Egyptian mathematics ( Rhind Mathematical Papyrus ) and Babylonian mathematics . Systematic study of trigonometric functions began in Hellenistic mathematics , reaching India as part of Hellenistic astronomy . In Indian astronomy , the study of trigonometric functions flourished in the Gupta period , especially due to Aryabhata ( sixth century CE ) . During the Middle Ages , the study of trigonometry continued in Islamic mathematics , hence it was adopted as a separate subject in the Latin West beginning in the Renaissance with Regiomontanus . The development of modern trigonometry shifted during the western Age of Enlightenment , beginning with 17th - century mathematics ( Isaac Newton and James Stirling ) and reaching its modern form with Leonhard Euler ( 1748 ) . </P>
when was trigonometry first thought to be used
when was trigonometry first thought to be used
2nd millennium BC
2nd millennium BC