When he writes that Newton too just read and re-read through the Master's, he's wrong.
"How Newton was introduced to the most advanced mathematical texts of his day is slightly less clear. According to de Moivre, Newton's interest in mathematics began in the autumn of 1663 when he bought an astrology book at a fair in Cambridge and found that he could not understand the mathematics in it. Attempting to read a trigonometry book, he found that he lacked knowledge of geometry and so decided to read Barrow's edition of Euclid's Elements."
When Newton failed to grasp something, he backtracked. When he failed to understand that, he backtracked again. I think many people when confronted with a failure of understanding may be disinclined, throw their hands up, and say, this isn't for me. Newton, instead, continued to work his way back up the chain until he found material that helped him understand.
I think this article does a disservice to the lessons we might learn from Newton by suggesting that he just smashed his head against the same book until he understood it.
I think the argument here isn't to reread a trigonometry book until you get it, regardless of your knowledge of the prereqs. The message I took is to find the book written by a/the master in the field of trigonometry, living or dead, in order to learn trig. If you don't yet understand geometry which is needed to understand trig, then find a book by the most renowned scholar in geometry.
It's sort of like that telephone game we play in elementary school, where the message gets passed around the room and ends up nothing like it started. Learn from the source of these insights, not from someone else who learned it and is giving you their interpretation.
"How Newton was introduced to the most advanced mathematical texts of his day is slightly less clear. According to de Moivre, Newton's interest in mathematics began in the autumn of 1663 when he bought an astrology book at a fair in Cambridge and found that he could not understand the mathematics in it. Attempting to read a trigonometry book, he found that he lacked knowledge of geometry and so decided to read Barrow's edition of Euclid's Elements."
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Newton.html
When Newton failed to grasp something, he backtracked. When he failed to understand that, he backtracked again. I think many people when confronted with a failure of understanding may be disinclined, throw their hands up, and say, this isn't for me. Newton, instead, continued to work his way back up the chain until he found material that helped him understand.
I think this article does a disservice to the lessons we might learn from Newton by suggesting that he just smashed his head against the same book until he understood it.