User:Milton Beychok/Sandbox: Difference between revisions
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The method of logarithms was first publicly propounded in [[1614]], in a book entitled ''Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio,'' by [[John Napier]], Baron of Merchiston, in [[Scotland]]. | The method of logarithms was first publicly propounded in [[1614]], in a book entitled ''Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio,'' by [[John Napier]], Baron of Merchiston, in [[Scotland]].<ref>[http://ualr.edu/lasmoller/napier.html Did you know?] (Website of the [[University of Arkansas]] at [[Little Rock]], [[Arkansas]])<ref> | ||
[[Jost Bürgi]], a [[Swiss]] mathematician, independently discovered logarithms but did not publish his discovery until four years after Napier.<ref>[http://turnbull.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Burgi.html Jost Bürgi] (Website of the [[University of St. Andrews]], Scotland)</ref> | [[Jost Bürgi]], a [[Swiss]] mathematician, independently discovered logarithms but did not publish his discovery until four years after Napier.<ref>[http://turnbull.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Burgi.html Jost Bürgi] (Website of the [[University of St. Andrews]], Scotland)</ref> | ||
Revision as of 22:14, 27 October 2008
The method of logarithms was first publicly propounded in 1614, in a book entitled Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio, by John Napier, Baron of Merchiston, in Scotland.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag
Early resistance to the use of logarithms was muted by the support of Johannes Kepler, the German mathematician and astronomer, who published a clear and impeccable explanation in 1624 of how logarithms worked.[1]
The use logarithms contributed to the advance of science, and especially of astronomy, by making some difficult calculations possible. Prior to the advent of electronic calculators and computers, logarithms were used extensively in surveying, navigation, engineering, chemistry and many other disciplines.
References
- ↑ Johannes Kepler (Website of the University of St. Andrews, Scotland)