Scottish mathematician who published the first logarithm tables
Jost Bürgi
Swiss instrument maker who developed them independently
Henry Briggs
Developed base-10 logarithms with Napier
Plate 042
1614
Merchiston, Scotland; Prague
No photograph is shown for this exhibition. The museum displays an image only where it can show the object honestly.
About this date
John Napier published his tables in 1614. Jost Bürgi developed logarithms independently and published in 1620.
About credit
Napier and Bürgi worked independently. Briggs’s common logarithms were developed through discussion with Napier.
Chapter II
The world before
Life before Logarithms
Multiplying large numbers by hand was slow and error-prone, a major burden for astronomers.
II
The human achievement
How it came about
Napier spent about twenty years working out his tables and published them in 1614. Briggs soon proposed using base 10 and produced tables in 1617 and 1624. The slide rule, built from logarithmic scales, followed within a decade.
III
Understanding the invention
How it works
Logarithms, explained in two steps.
01
Step 01 of 02
Adding instead of multiplying
The logarithm of a product is the sum of the logarithms. To multiply, look up two logs, add them, and look up the result.
Adding instead of multiplying
Scales on a rule
IV
The transformation
What changed for humanity
Astronomy
Kepler used logarithms to calculate planetary orbits.
Navigation
Sailors used log tables for position calculations.
They sped up scientific calculation enormously for over 350 years, until electronic calculators replaced them.
V
Before and after
Life before and after Logarithms
Before
Pages of manual working.
After
Two table look-ups and one addition.
On larger screens, drag the divider (or use the arrow keys) to give more room to the world before or after.
