John Napier’s Mathematical Contributions Essay - 600 Words

In late 1550, John Napier was born to Sir Archibald Napier and Janet Bothwell at Merchiston Tower in Edinburgh, Scotland. As John grew up in Merchiston Castle, he was in the constant presence of royalty, as his parents were both part of royalty. His father was Sir Archibald Napier of Merchiston Castle and his mother was Janet Bothwell whom was the daughter of a very influential politician and judge named Francis Bothwell, Lord of Session. Janet Bothwell was also the sister to Adam Bothwell, whom later became the Bishop of Orkney. So with being surrounded with this vast sea of nobility, John Napier did not start his schooling until the age of thirteen, which during this time was customary during this time period. However, John did†¦show more content†¦All that history provides us is a gap of time and the letter reading â€Å"I pray you, sir, to send John to the schools either to France or Flanders, for he can learn no good at home.† And to this extend, you would n ot think that John Napier perused any in new and innovative ideas during his time, because he is not a so called â€Å"big name† as that of Sir Isaac Newton. To this day, John Napier is not one of the names that you learn of as ‘innovative’ throughout basic schooling. However, any math student has seen the work of John Napier. So then apparently this advice was taken and during this gap of time, John Napier studied abroad and learned an abundance of information in the mathematical field. John Napier did not set out to change the world of mathematics; that was not his goal. Napier was very invested in astronomy which led him into mathematics. He merely enjoyed studying mathematics and tinkering with new ideas as this was his greatest hobby. However there were times that John’s greatest hobby took a backseat in his life. He often found it difficult to conduct mathematical works and construct necessary calculations, due to the fact he also studied in th e field of theology. John came to a conclusion one day that there must be a simpler and more efficient way to preform calculations that contained such large numbers, and this became Napier’s new project. Napier spend around twenty year perfecting this project. In the year 1614, JohnShow MoreRelatedContents Introduction 1 Evolution of Logarithmic Concepts 2 John Napier of Merchiston 3 Early1700 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Æ' Contents Introduction 1 Evolution of Logarithmic Concepts 2 John Napier of Merchiston 3 Early Life 3 Advances in Mathematics 3 Napier’s Logarithm Table 4 Initial ideas 4 Progression of Arithmetic and Geometric concepts 4 Definition of the Logarithm 4 Approximation of the Logarithm 4 Construction of the table 4 Base of Logarithms 4 Logarithms of Negative Numbers 5 Methodology 5 Controversy 5 Euler’s Take 5 Conclusion 6 References 6 Introduction The contemporary world is full of marvels. TechnologicalRead MoreThe Discovery Of The Logarithm836 Words   |  4 PagesLogarithms The discovery of the logarithm is a great mathematics breakthrough made by John Napier and Joost Burgi. These two mathematicians had different concepts of the logarithms and its present use today. John Napier’s logarithms were published in 1614, while six years later, in 1620, Burgi’s logarithms were published (A REVIEW OF LOGARITHMS 2016). Both Napier and Burgi invented logarithms in order to simplify mathematical calculations. To reach their goals, they used two different methods; Napier usedRead MoreCompilation of Mathematicians and Their Contributions11615 Words   |  47 PagesI. Greek Mathematicians Thales of Miletus Birthdate: 624 B.C. Died: 547-546 B. C. Nationality: Greek Title: Regarded as â€Å"Father of Science† Contributions: * He is credited with the first use of deductive reasoning applied to geometry. * Discovery that a circle is  bisected  by its diameter, that the base angles of an isosceles triangle are equal and that  vertical angles  are equal. * Accredited with foundation of the Ionian school of Mathematics that was a centre of learning and research