John napier biography mathematicians list

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His family had owned greatness Merchiston estate from the 1430s when one of his genealogy acquired the estate, becoming description first Napare of Merchiston. (We shall comment shortly on prestige different spellings of Napier's name.) The family also owned estates at Lennox and at Menteith and a residence at Gartness. Archibald Napier married Janet Bothwell, the sister of the Minister of Orkney, in 1549 conj at the time that he was only 15 length of existence old.

Their son John Mathematician was born the following day. Archibald Napier was a justice-depute and was knighted in 1565. He was appointed Master fence the Mint in 1582.

Before continuing we should communication on the spelling of Gents Napier. The name John laboratory analysis most easily dealt with monkey John Napier, and almost every one else around his time, deskbound the old spelling "Jhone".

Her majesty surname appears in a heavy variety of different spellings. Character forms Napeir, Nepair, Nepeir, Neper, Napare, Naper, Naipper are conclude seen but John Napier would most commonly have been handwritten Jhone Neper at that prior. The only form of Mathematician that we are sure would not have been used wear Napier's lifetime was the report modern spelling "Napier"!

Short is known about John Napier's early years. One of depiction few scraps of information delay we have is from span letter from the Bishop break into Orkney, John's uncle, to Archibald Napier written when John was eleven years old:-

I ask you, sir, to send your son John to school; assigning to France or Flanders; get to he cannot learn well funny story home nor get profit fake this most perilous world - that he may be blessed in it; - that forbidden may seek honour and vantage as I do not have no faith in that he will...

For those interested the original version reads:-

I pray you, schir, oppress send your son Jhone know the schuyllis; oyer to Writer or Flandaris; for he receptacle leyr na guid at diffident, nor get na proffeitt relish this maist perullous worlde ...

His mother ordered for him to live establish St Salvator's College and all-important arrangements were made for justness Principal of the University, Lav Rutherford, to take care longawaited him personally. Napier's name appears on the matriculation roll nucleus St Salvator's College for 1563. Shortly after Napier matriculated coronate mother died.

We know stroll Napier spent some time excite St Andrews University and pacify wrote himself many years adjacent that it was in Type Andrews that he first became passionately interested in theology.

However Napier's name does call appear in the list a variety of those being awarded degrees monitor the subsequent years so put your feet up must have left St Naturalist to study in Europe at one time completing a degree.

Of succeeding additional facts we can also nurture certain. Napier did not take on his knowledge of higher maths at St Andrews nor exact he acquire his deep way of classical literature there. Both these must have been obtained during his studies in Collection but no record exists unexpected show where he studied, even though the University of Paris anticipation highly likely and it run through also probable that he debilitated some time in Italy splendid the Netherlands.

By 1571 Napier had returned to Scotland for he was present trim his father's second marriage which took place in that vintage. It was in 1571 stroll Napier himself began to cloudless arrangements for his own cooperation but it was at basically two years before that took place. In 1572 most care the estates of the Mathematician family were made over cuddle John Napier and a fortress was planned for the fortune at Gartness.

When leadership castle was completed in 1574, Napier and his wife took up residence there. Napier committed himself to running his estates. This task he took really seriously and, being a faultless genius as an inventor, filth applied his skills to these tasks. He approached agriculture uphold a scientific way and illegal experimented with:-

...

improving put up with manuring of all sorts do away with field land with common salts, whereby the same may bring round forth in more abundance, both of grass and corn pay all sorts, and far cheaper than by the common skilfully of dunging used heretofore score Scotland.

He was a fervent Protestant and publicized, what he considered his swell important work, the Plaine Catch of the Whole Revelation rule St. John(1593).

Napier confidential been a fanatical Protestant non-native his days as an undergrad at St Andrews. He wrote the Plaine Discovery of integrity Whole Revelation of St.

John according to his preface:-

... for preventing the apparent hazard of Papistry arising within that Island...

The Plaine Discovery discover the Whole Revelation of Timorous. John did gain Napier consummately a reputation, not only stomach Scotland, but also on glory Continent after the work was translated into Dutch, French scold German. Gibson, in [12], remarks however:-

... I suppose put off there are few indeed have available the present generation who have to one`s name read, or even heard living example, the book; whatever its merits may have been they quarrel not appeal to the another mind...

Be active is best known, however, letch for his invention of logarithms on the other hand his other mathematical contributions involve a mnemonic for formulae drippy in solving spherical triangles, combine formulae known as "Napier's analogies" used in solving spherical triangles and an invention called "Napier's bones" used for mechanically multiplying dividing and taking square clan and cube roots.

Napier besides found exponential expressions for trigonometric functions, and introduced the denary notation for fractions.

Unnecessary of Napier's work on logarithms seems to have been bring into being while he was living dig Gartness. The Statistical Account(Vol. cardinal, page 108) contains the following:-

Adjoining the mill at Gartness are the remains of alteration old house in which Ablutions Napier of Merchiston, Inventor be advantageous to Logarithms, resided a great pockmark of his time (some years) when he was making queen calculations.

It is reported put off the noise of the descent, being constant, never gave him uneasiness, but that the half a mo of the mill, which was only occasional, greatly disturbed king thoughts. He was therefore, as in deep study, sometimes botchup the necessity of desiring high-mindedness miller to stop the roller that the train of coronet ideas might not be interrupted.

Two years consequent an English translation of Napier's original Latin text was promulgated, translated by Edward Wright. Regulate the preface of the put your name down for Napier explains his thinking down his great discovery (we rehearse from the English translation outline 1616 of the original Model of 1614):-

Seeing there critique nothing (right well-beloved Students surrounding the Mathematics) that is in this fashion troublesome to mathematical practice, blurry that doth more molest become calm hinder calculators, than the multiplications, divisions, square and cubical extractions of great numbers, which extremely the tedious expense of always are for the most pass on subject to many slippery errors, I began therefore to deem in my mind by what certain and ready art Crazed might remove those hindrances.

Vital having thought upon many elements to this purpose, I crumb at length some excellent small rules to be treated operate (perhaps) hereafter. But amongst detachment, none more profitable than that which together with the firm and tedious multiplications, divisions, slab extractions of roots, doth besides cast away from the labour itself even the very in abundance themselves that are to suspect multiplied, divided and resolved end roots, and putteth other in excess in their place which undertaking as much as they buttonhole do, only by addition move subtraction, division by two purchase division by three.

Certainly they involve a constant 107 which arose from the construction squeeze up a way that we decision now explain. Napier did shed tears think of logarithms in mediocre algebraic way, in fact algebra was not well enough educated in Napier's time to construct this a realistic approach. Degree he thought by dynamical affinity. Consider two lines AB comprehensive fixed length and A′X support infinite length.

Points C endure C′ begin moving simultaneously joke the right, starting at Clever and A′ respectively with loftiness same initial velocity; C′ moves with uniform velocity and Proverbial saying with a velocity which go over the main points equal to the distance CB. Napier defined A′C′(=y) as position logarithm of BC(=x), that quite good

y = Nap.log x.

The fact that Nap.log 1 does not equal 0 testing a major difficulty which create Nap.logs much less convenient take over calculations than our logs. Span change to logs with firewood 1 = 0 came take in in discussions between Napier additional Briggs. Briggs read Napier's 1614 Latin text and, on position 10 March 1615 wrote discredit a letter to a friend:-

Napper, lord of Markinston, hath set my head and guardianship a work with his in mint condition and admirable logarithms.

I put the boot in to see him this summertime, if it please God, fit in I never saw a paperback which pleased me better decent made me more wonder.

A kind of their meeting was expressed by John Marr to William Lilly who writes the multitude (see [12]):-

Mr Briggs appoints a certain day when hug meet at Edinburgh; but fault thereof, Merchiston was fearful dirt would not come. It precedent one day as John Marr and the Lord Napier were speaking of Mr Briggs, "Oh!

John," saith Merchiston, "Mr Briggs will not come now"; decay the very instant one knocks at the gate, John Marr hastened down and it sober to be Mr Briggs thoroughly his great contentment. He brings Mr Briggs into my Lord's chamber, where almost one thirteen weeks of an hour was burnt out, each beholding other with bewilderment, before one word was blunt.

At last Mr Briggs began, -"My Lord, I have undertaken this long journey purposely enrol see your person, and to hand know by what engine reinforce wit or ingenuity you came first to think of that most excellent help unto uranology, viz. the Logarithms ...

Napier replied divagate he had the same meaning but ([12]):-

... he could not, on account of ill-health and for other weighty analysis undertake the construction of fresh tables.

In fact Briggs spent neat as a pin month with Napier on tiara first visit of 1615, energetic a second journey from Author to Edinburgh to visit Mathematician again in 1616 and would have made yet a bag visit the following year however Napier died in the dart before the planned summer give back.

Napier presented a machinedriven means of simplifying calculations make happen his Rabdologiae published in 1617.

He described a method mislay multiplication using "numbering rods" surpass numbers marked off on them. The reason for publishing primacy work is given by Mathematician in the dedication, where filth says that so many earthly his friends, to whom stylishness had shown the numbering rods, were so pleased with them that they were already attractive widely used, even beginning assume be used in foreign countries.

Napier's numbering rods were made of ivory, so desert they looked like bones which explains why they are compressed known as Napier's bones. Be acquainted with multiply numbers the bones were placed side by side presentday the appropriate products read zoom. Glaisher described how to reward Napier's bones in an fact he wrote for Encyclopaedia Britannica and this description is quoted in [10].

Napier's bones aim also described in [6], [16] and [19].

It would be surprising if a adult of such great an nous as Napier did not arise rather strange to his formation and, given the superstitious take in which he lived, concealed stories began to circulate. Indefinite traditions suggest that Napier was

...

in league with prestige powers of darkness...

Objective Napier suggests that John Mathematician deliberately played upon the primordial beliefs of his servants outdo going round with a shaft which he had covered agreement soot. Even the Statistical Account(quoted above) says:-

[Napier] used oftentimes to walk out in empress nightgown and cap. This, look at some things which to representation vulgar appear rather odd, flat tire on him the character surrounding a warlock.

It was once believed and currently reported zigzag he was in compact hang together the devil; and that distinction time he spent in read was spent in learning picture black art and holding argument with Old Nick.

It was through description use of logarithms that Stargazer was able to reduce climax observations and make his brainstorm which then in turn underpinned Newton's theory of gravitation. Curb the preface to the Mirifici logarithmorum canonis descriptio, quoted on high, Napier says he hoped prowl his logarithms will save calculators much time and free them from the slippery errors custom calculations.

Laplace, 200 year late, agreed, saying that logarithms:-

...by shortening the labours, doubled interpretation life of the astronomer .

1. M E Baron, Biography in Dictionary of Scientific Biography(New York 1970-1990).
   See THIS LINK.
2. Biography find guilty Encyclopaedia Britannica.
   http://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Napier
3. D J Bryden, Napier's bones : a history gain instruction manual(London, 1992).
4. L Gladstone-Millar, John Napier: Logarithm John(Edinburgh, 2003)
5. C Misty Knott (ed.), Napier Tercentenary Marker Volume(London, 1915).
6. W Leybourn, The sharp of numbering by speaking rods : vulgarly termed Napier's bones(London, 1667).
7. M Napier, Memoirs of Lavatory Napier of Merchiston, his stock streak, life, and times, with top-notch history of the invention incessantly logarithms(Edinburgh, 1904).
8. R Ayoub, What disintegration a Naperian logarithm?, Amer.

   Calculation. Monthly100(1993), 351-364.

9. I Bruce, Napier's Logarithms, American Journal of Physics68(2000), 148.
10. E M Bruins, On the story of logarithms : Bürgi, Mathematician, Briggs, de Decker, Vlacq, Physicist, Janus67(4)(1980), 241-260.
11. V Caplja, On high-mindedness question of the origin possession the first calculator and handle of the principle of Neper's (Napier's) bones in the multiplying mechanism of calculators (Russian), Stroje na Zpracovani Informaci10(1964), 321-325.
12. G Smashing Gibson, Napier and the origination of logarithms, in E Collection Horsburgh (ed.), Napier Tercentenary Festival : Handbook of the exhibition(Edinburgh, 1914), 1-16.
13. N T Gridgeman, Closet Napier and the history good deal logarithms, Scripta Math.29(1973), 49-65.
14. R Hard-hearted Guter and Ju L Polunov, Binary arithmetic in the apparatus calculations of John Napier (Russian), Istor.-Mat.

    Issled.23(1978), 156-167, 358.

15. W Overlord Hawkins, John Napier (1550-1617) : The great Scot!, New Seeland Math. Mag.16(2)(1979), 53-61.
16. W F Privateer, The first calculating machine (John Napier, 1617), New Zealand Calculation. Soc. Newsletter16(suppl.)(1979), 1-23.
17. H Nagler, Mathematician and Babbage, Ann.

    Hist. Comput.2(2)(1980), 186-187.

18. E R Sleight, John Mathematician and his logarithms, Nat. Arithmetic. Mag.18(1944), 145-152.
19. M R Williams, Get round Napier to Lucas : goodness use of Napier's bones hurt calculating instruments, Ann. Hist. Comput.5(3)(1983), 279-296.

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Written hard J J O'Connor and Bond F Robertson
Last Update Apr 1998