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John Napier (1550 - April
4, 1617) was a Scottish mathematician. He is most remembered as the inventor of logarithms, of Napier's bones or
Napier's rods and of the decimal point. He was born in
Merchiston Tower, Edinburgh. Although he did not invent the natural logarithmic function, it is sometimes known as the Napierian Logarithm.
Napier is relatively little known outside mathematical circles where he made what is undoubtedly an extremely important
advance in the history of mathematics. Logarithms made calculations by hand much easier and thereby opened the way to many later
scientific advances. His work, Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio, contained thirty-seven pages of explanatory
matter and ninety pages of tables, which facilitated the furtherment of astronomy, dynamics and physics.
Napier's powers of invention were not confined to logarithms. He published a small treatise on a simple way to perform
multiplication, the Rabdologiae, introducing a calculating device which became known as Napier's Rods or
Napier's Bones. In an appendix he explained another method of multiplication and division using metal plates, which is
one of the earliest known attempts at a mechanical means of calculation.
Another useful idea of his is Neper's circle, a mnemonic for
spherical trigonometry.
He is buried in St Cuthbert's Church, Edinburgh.
A unit used in telecommunication, the neper, is named after John Napier.
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