Journal of the Mathematics Council of the Alberta Teachers’ Association
Volume 36 Issue 2, June 1999
51 – 53
The Ancient Problem of Trisecting an Angle
Sandra M. Pulver
The problem of trisecting an angle dates back to the ancient Greeks, and as early as the 5th century BCE, Greek and Muslim geometers devoted much time to this puzzle. This problem is one of the Three Famous Problems, which also include doubling the cube and squaring the circle. These three great construction problems of geometry could not be solved using an unmarked straightedge and compass stone, the only implements sanctioned by the ancient Greeks. But it was not until the 19th century that advances in the algebra of the real number system allowed us to make instruments which made possible these constructions that were impossible with the straightedge and compass alone.
