> They probably didn't have the modern form we use where plugging in different values like 1 is a natural and obvious thing to do.
No, but the form they used was that they thought about lines in a plane that had no particular scale other than whatever you might assign to them. "Plugging in 1" for the sides of a right triangle in that model just means that you look at an isosceles right triangle. It will always be obvious.
No, but the form they used was that they thought about lines in a plane that had no particular scale other than whatever you might assign to them. "Plugging in 1" for the sides of a right triangle in that model just means that you look at an isosceles right triangle. It will always be obvious.