Trigonometry and American Independence
Excerpt from “Why Knot?” Buy the book at Amazon
George Washington was good at trigonometry, so good that he qualified for a job as a surveyor of frontier land. Then, because he was familiar with frontier land, General Braddock gave him the rank of colonel in the British Army and relied on him to guide the expedition to Fort Pitt. That expedition was ambushed and defeated by French and Indians. But when the Revolution began, the Continental Congress made Washington Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army because of his military experience and his rank of colonel. And with his unique style of command, Washington won the war, despite losing every battle but the last.
If Washington hadn’t done so well in trigonometry, he wouldn’t have become a surveyor and wouldn’t have been made commander, and we might have lost the Revolution.
