The use of the Thomas Hood Sector chords scale from the view of mathematics graduates

Abstract

The study presented is based on a historical resource called the Sector, devised by mathematics scholar Thomas Hood (1556-1620), which was described in his 1598 work The making and use of the geometricall instrument, called a Sector, in England. This mathematical instrument was used at the time to measure land, geometric and arithmetic problems, and it also had three scales, one of which was a string scale, which was used to obtain polygons inscribed on circles. In view of this, this work aims to describe and explore the perception of geometric aspects of mathematics undergraduates on the use of the Sector instrument, from its string scale, through a university extension course, applied at the State University of Ceará, in the period June 2023. The methodology used was qualitative and descriptive, based on documentary research, as well as using methodological assumptions based on action research. This paper presents knowledge about Thomas Hood's Sector and its use, characteristics of the location and participants in the research, aspects of the university extension course and considerations about the mathematical knowledge acquired by the undergraduates. In this way, we reflect on the possible didactic potential that emerged from the use of the instrument, through the application of the course.