TRIGO FUNCTIONS

Versine: versin()=1-cos()
Vercosine: vercosin()=1+cos()
Coversine: coversin()=1-sin()
Covercosine: covercosine()=1+sin()
Haversine: haversin()=versin()/2
Havercosine: havercosin()=vercosin()/2
Hacoversine: hacoversin()=coversin()/2
Hacovercosine: hacovercosin()=covercosin()/2
Exsecant: exsec()=sec()-1
Excosecant: excsc()=csc()-1

The secret trig functions, like logarithms, made computations easier. Versine
and haversine were used the most often. Near the angle =0, cos() is very
close to 1. If you were doing a computation that had 1-cos() in it, your
computation might be ruined if your cosine table didn't have enough
significant figures. To illustrate, the cosine of 5 degrees is 0.996194698, and
the cosine of 1 degree is 0.999847695. The difference cos(1)-cos(5) is
0.003652997. If you had three significant figures in your cosine table, you
would only get 1 significant figure of precision in your answer, due to the

leading zeroes in the difference. And a table with only three significant
figures of precision would not be able to distinguish between 0 degree and 1
degree angles. In many cases, this wouldn't matter, but it could be a problem
if the errors built up over the course of a computation.
The bonus trig functions also have the advantage that they are never
negative. Versine ranges between 0 and 2, so if you are using log tables to
multiply with a versine, you don't have to worry about the fact that the
logarithm is not defined for negative numbers. (It is not defined for 0 either,
but that is an easy case to deal with.) Another advantage to the versine and
haversine is that they can keep you from having to square something. A little
bit of trigonometric wizardry (a.k.a. memorization of one of the endless list of
trig formulas you learned in high school) shows that 1-cos()=2sin 2(/2). So
the haversine is just sin2(/2). Likewise, the havercosine is cos2(/2). If you
have a computation involving the square of sine or cosine, you can use a
haversine or havercosine table and not have to square or take square roots.