Talk:Degree (angle)

whyyy

why is each degree divided into 60 parts and each minute into sixty seconds??? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 147.153.52.68 (talk) 19:22, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

This is pure speculation, but these subdivisions may also go back to the Babylonian base-60 system. If so, they defined minutes and seconds as naturally as we would define tenths and hundredths of a degree. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Polyparadigm (talk • contribs) 07:47, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

i would also like to know why they chose the terms "minutes" and "seconds" - the history section on this page or the sexigesimal page does not address this... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.93.145.61 (talk) 01:12, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

I heard that a minute was the first minute (mahy-noot) division of a degree (or hour) and a second is the 2nd. I haven't looked for a source for this, but someone else can if they like. 75.85.51.140 (talk) 09:42, 14 March 2010 (UTC)

Minute comes from Latin, minure, that means decrease, and minus has the same origin. Second also comes from Latin, secundus, that means 2nd. It would be interesting to know how old the division of degrees into minutes and seconds is.Entropeter (talk) 10:48, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

Older textbooks also talk about thirds and some even fourths Martin of Sheffield (talk) 21:03, 11 April 2020 (UTC)

It is all in the hands

Before all the instruments and theorems listed in this article were available the most used tool for measurement were an individuals hands. Astronomy was no different. There are 9 hands from the horizon to zenith if held at arms length, palms facing so they can be seen and stacked on top of one another during the count. This makes 36 hands in a circle and when each hand is divided into tens then there are 360 divisions. Thus 360 degrees in a circle, 90 in a right angle and so on and so forth. Michael Edwards (Michaelmwe3wm) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Michaelmwe3wm (talk • contribs) 21:47, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

Not a protractor

A protractor is a simple instrument used to measure angles, typically on a map. A dial sight or aiming circle is an artillery instrument used to lay a gun in azimuth by means of an aiming point other than the target. It is copiously covered in the relevant professional literature, mostly published by Governments who tend to the be users of artillery. Ugloma is the transliteration of the Russian name.Nfe (talk) 08:46, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

First of all, a word of explanation for the benefit of anyone reading this who does not know the history which led to the above comment being posted. It refers to the fact that, in connection with the Russian army's use of a unit of 1⁄6000 of a circle, until a few days ago the article said "this may be seen on a protractor, circa 1900, in the St Petersberg Museum of Artillery", which has been changed to "this may be seen on an 'ugloma' (dial sight or aiming cirle in English) , circa 1900, in the St Petersberg Museum of Artillery".

I have just spent a considerable amount of time searching for confirmation that this word exists in Russian, and has the meaning you attribute to it. I have looked in two Russian dictionaries that I have, and several online dictionaries. I have searched on Google for "углома" (ugloma) and for various forms that would be expected to be case forms of that word, if it exists, such as "угломах" (uglomakh), "угломой" (uglomoy), "угломов" (uglomov), "угломе" (uglome). The conclusion is perfectly clear: "углома" (ugloma) exists only as the genitive of "углом" (uglom), which means "angle" or "corner", and does not have the meaning you attribute to it at all. Apart from dictionaries saying so, I found numerous actual uses of the word (in various case forms) where the context made it abundantly clear that "angle" or "corner" was the meaning, and not a single one where it could possibly be taken as meaning a measuring instrument. Here are a few examples: , , , and there are many more. The most relevant Russian word I can find is "угломер" (uglomer), which usually means "protractor", but which has a broader range of uses than the usual English meanings of "protractor", and can be used to refer to inclinometers, alidades, and goniometers. Instruments developed from the goniometer are used in the sort of application you refer to, and have been variously referred to in English as "goniometric sights", "aiming circle goniometers", "dial sights", "aiming circles" and "panoramic telescope", so it seems very probable that the Russia "угломер" includes the dial sights and aiming circles that you have given as English equivalents in the article, and I have little doubt that the instrument referred to in the article is some form of goniometer or dial sight.

Having said all that, it is really an academic question what the correct Russian word is, because this is the English language Wikipedia, and in the absence of very good reasons for doing otherwise, we should use English. (The article Napoleon refers to the French troops' horses, not to their chevaux; we don't use a French word just because the particular horses happened to be French ones.) Another point is that the present wording of the article is not likely to be very helpful, because most readers will never have heard even of a dial sight or aiming circle, let alone either the mythical "ugloma" or the real "uglomer". I therefore intend to replace the present wording with one which uses the English expressions for the device, and gives a brief explanation of the term. If you disagree with my changes for any reason, please let me know. JamesBWatson (talk) 12:57, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

Incidentally, I have also replaced "aiming cirle" with "aiming circle", which I trust is OK. JamesBWatson (talk) 13:05, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

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HP user manual as a reference?

Really? Are the HP calculators' user manuals the best reference for the symbols and conversion factors? And I didn't find the symbol "deg" defined anywhere, it looks more like an abbreviation (which should be "deg." then). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jellby (talk • contribs) 08:35, 11 May 2020 (UTC)

"Bogengrad" listed at Redirects for discussion

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"Altgrad" listed at Redirects for discussion

An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect Altgrad and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 March 5#Altgrad until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. eviolite (talk) 04:12, 5 March 2022 (UTC)

Clarifying "angular measure" to "2D-angular measure (plane angle)"

Hello! I’d like to propose a small clarification to avoid any ambiguity.

Current line: It is not an SI unit—the SI unit of angular measure is the radian
Suggested change: It is not an SI unit—the SI unit of plane angle (2D angular measure) is the radian

This helps readers to avoid any ambiguity and distinguish between plane angle (radian) and solid angle (steradian), since both are types of angular measurement. Prob 3104 (talk) 05:29, 26 May 2025 (UTC)

Sumerian 'danna' as origin for 360 degrees in a circle?

This essay (Some Fundamental Concepts in Ancient Astronomy) by O. Neugebauer suggests that the division of the circle into 360 originates from the Babylonian's application of the Sumerian danna to astronomical distances, which divided the circumference of the sky into 12, then further into 360 as each danna contained 30 uš. Should this be added to the history section? DigitalRoadrunner (talk) 18:15, 1 October 2025 (UTC)