Trigonometry is the branch of mathematics dealing with relationships between the sides and angles of triangles. It has been used for over 4000 years, originally to calculate sundials and now in fields like navigation, engineering, and astronomy. Trigonometry specifically studies right triangles, where one angle is 90 degrees. The Pythagorean theorem relates the sides of a right triangle, and trigonometric ratios like sine, cosine, and tangent are used to calculate unknown sides and angles based on known values. Trigonometry has many applications in areas involving waves, geometry, and modeling real-world phenomena.