Conic sections: Where do they come from? What can they be used for? Conic sections have been around for thousands of years. The Greek geometers of Plato's (427-347 B.C.) time "described these curves as the curves formed by cutting a double cone with a plane; hence the name conic sections" (Finney 646). Much of the early work done on conic sections was combined and greatly expanded upon by Appollonius (262-190? B.C.) in his work called Conic Sections. This work was in eight books and contained approximately 400 propositions. Conic Sections earned Appollonius the name of "The Great Geometer" from his peers.
Conic sections have many real-world uses. The shape of a pitchers mound in baseball is circular. Doppler radar, which tracks weather conditions, retrieves data for given radius around a central point. This data represents the weather conditions in a circular region. One way to see a hyperbola is to look at the shape light makes on a wall when a lamp with a lamp shade that has vertical sides is turned on. The orbits of some comets and satellites are shaped like hyperbolas. These comets and satellites are said to be in an open or escape orbit. A major use of the parabola is in reflecting devices. At sporting events, many times there is a person holding something that resembles a satellite dish. This person aims the dish at the area where most of the action is taking place. This dish is a parabolic reflector. There is a microphone at the focus of the reflector. As sound occurs at the event, the sound waves hit the dish and are reflected back at the microphones. This is also how satellite dishes that people use to receive cable television work. Also, these parabolic reflectors are used in devices that transmit information. The reflectors in flashlights and searchlights are in the shape of a parabola. As many of us already know, the planets orbit the sun in elliptical patterns. Another example of where ellipses are used is in the Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol. This room is one half of an ellipsoid. In this chamber, a person standing at one of the foci of the ellipse can hear someone standing at the other focus whispering, even though the two people are 80 feet apart. Rooms with this property are called a whispering gallery.