17TH CENTURY

The invention of the logarithm in the

early 17th Century by John Napier (and
later improved by Napier and Henry
Briggs) contributed to the advance of
science, astronomy and mathematics
by making some difficult calculations
relatively easy.
It was one of the most significant
mathematical developments of the age,
and 17th Century physicists like Kepler
and Newton could never have performed
the complex calculatons needed for their
innovations without it. The French
astronomer and mathematician Pierre
Simon Laplace remarked, almost two
centuries later, that Napier, by halving the
labours of astronomers, had doubled their
lifetimes.
Although base 10 is the most popular
base, another common base for
logarithms is the number e which has a
value of 2.7182818... and which has
special properties which make it very
useful for logarithmic calculations.
These are known as natural logarithms,
and are written loge or ln.
Briggs produced extensive lookup
tables of common (base 10)
logarithms, and by 1622 William
Oughted had produced a logarithmic
slide rule, an instrument which became
indispensible in technological
innovation for the next 300 years.
Napier also improved Simon Stevin's
decimal notation and popularized the
use of the decimal point, and made
lattice multiplication (originally
developed by the Persian
mathematician Al-Khwarizmi and
introduced into Europe by Fibonacci)
more convenient with the introduction
of “Napier's Bones”, a multiplication
tool using a set of numbered rods.
Although not principally a
mathematician, the role of the
Frenchman Marin Mersenne as a sort of
clearing house and go-between for
mathematical thought in France during
this period was crucial. Mersenne is
largely remembered in mathematics
today in the term Mersenne primes.
Although not principally a
mathematician, the role of the
Frenchman Marin Mersenne as a sort of
clearing house and go-between for
mathematical thought in France during
this period was crucial. Mersenne is
largely remembered in mathematics
today in the term Mersenne primes.