Napier , John

Napier , John
(1550–1617) Scottish mathematician
Born in Edinburgh, Napier studied at the University of St. Andrews but left before taking his degree and then traveled extensively throughout Europe. He was a fervent Protestant and wrote a diatribe attacking Catholics and others whose religious views he disapproved of. Napier was also very active in politics and he designed a number of war-engines of various kinds when it was believed that the Spanish were about to invade Scotland.
Napier devoted his spare time to mathematics, in particular to methods of computation. He introduced the concept of logarithms, publishing his work on this in Mirifici logarithmorum canonis descriptio (1614; Description of the Marvelous Canon of Logarithms). Napier's tables used natural logarithms, i.e., to basee, and soon after their publication the tables were slightly modified by Henry Briggs to base 10. Napier's further work on logarithms was published after his death in Mirifici logarithmorum canonis constructio (1619; Construction of the Marvelous Canon of Logarithms). Napier did some other mathematical work, in particular in spherical trigonometry and in perfecting the decimal notation.

Scientists. . 2011.

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  • Napier, John — born 1550, Merchiston Castle, near Edinburgh, Scot. died April 4, 1617, Merchiston Castle Scottish mathematician and champion of Protestantism. He divided his life between attacks on the church of Rome and the pursuit of numerical calculations.… …   Universalium

  • Napier,John — Na·pi·er (nāʹpē ər, nə pîrʹ), John. Laird of Merchiston. 1550 1617. Scottish mathematician who invented logarithms and introduced the use of the decimal point in writing numbers. * * * …   Universalium

  • Napier, John — VER Neper, John * * * (1550, Merchiston Castle, cerca de Edimburgo, Escocia–4 abr. 1617, Merchiston Castle). Matemático escocés y campeón del protestantismo. Dividió su vida entre ataques a la iglesia de Roma y su empeño en cálculos numéricos. En …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • NAPIER, JOHN —    laird of Merchiston, mathematician, born in Merchiston Castle, near Edinburgh; famed over the world as the inventor of logarithms; wrote a book on the Apocalypse, which contains some plain spoken counsel to King James; believed in astrology,… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

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  • John Neper — John Napier John Napier John Napier (auch latinisiert Neper), Laird of Merchiston (* 1550 in Merchiston Castle bei Edinburgh; † 3. April 1617 in Merchiston Castle) war e …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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  • John Napier — For other people with the same name, see John Napier (disambiguation). John Napier John Napier (1550–1617) Born …   Wikipedia

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