Thales's theorem theorem is named after Thales because he was said by ancient sources to have been the first to prove the theorem, using his own results that the base angles of an isosceles triangle are equal, and that the sum of angles in a triangle is equal to 180°. Dante's "Paradiso" (canto 13, lines 101–102) refers to Thales's theorem in the course of a speech. The following facts are used: the sum of the angles in a triangle is equal to 180° and the base angles of an isosceles triangle are equal. Since = = , ∆OBA and ∆OBC are isosceles
Triangle with angles α, β and γ is similar to a triangle with side lengths equal to sin α, sin β and sin γ. This triangle can be constructed by first constructing a circle of diameter 1, and inscribing in it two of the angles of the triangle. The length of the sides of that triangle will be sin α, sin β and sin γ. The side whose length is sin α is opposite to the angle whose measure is α, etc. The law of cosines, or cosine rule, connects the length of an unknown side of a triangle to the