life tt<N

John Napier and the Invention

of Logarithms,

1614

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

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ILotrtJOtt:

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~~h2j^- m-OWw-

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John Napier and the Invention

of Logarithms,

1614

A LECTURE
BY E.

W. HOBSON,

Sc.D., LL.D., F.R.S.

sadle irian professor of pure mathematics

fellow of Christ's college, Cambridge

Cambridge
at the

University Press

1914

(Eambrtoge:

PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A.

AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS

EMS
LIB

Q\

4
JOHN NAPIER AND THE INVENTION OF LOGARITHMS, 1614
In
the

present year there will be held

celebration,

under

the

auspices
of
the

of

the

Royal

Society of Edinburgh,

tercentenary of

one of the great events

the
publication

in the history of Science,

of

John

"

Napier's
Descriptio,"

Mirifici

Logarithmorum

Canonis

work

which embodies one of the very greatest scientific

discoveries that the world has seen.

The
an

invention

of

Logarithms
first

not

only
in

marks

advance of the

importance

Mathematical

Science, but as providing a great labour-saving

instrument for the use of

all

those

who have

occasion to carry out extensive numerical calculations

it

can be compared

in

importance only

with the great Indian invention of our system

of numeration.

6
It
is

JOHN NAPIER
almost always extremely instructive to
disits

study in detail the form in which a great

covery

or

invention

was

presented

by

originator,

and

to trace in detail the

mode

in

which the fundamental ideas connected with the

discovery shaped themselves in his mind, even

when, and just because,

simplifications

later

developments or

may have
still

so transformed the under-

lying principles, and

invention, that

more the

practice, of the

we have become accustomed

to

look at the matter from a point of view, at least

superficially,

very different from the original one

of the discoverer.
far

The

case of logarithms
this rule
;

is

very

from being an exception to

I

accord-

ingly

propose to give an account, as concise as

may

be, of the conception of a logarithm in the

mind of Napier, and of the methods by which he

actually constructed his table of logarithms.

In order fully to appreciate the nature of the

difficulties

of the task accomplished by the genius

of John Napier,

some

effort

of imagination

is

JOHN NAPIER
required, to be

expended

in realizing the

narrow-

ness of the

means

available in the early part of

the seventeenth century for the calculation of the

tables,

at

time,

before the

invention

of the
calcula-

Differential

and Integral Calculus, when

infinite series

tion

by means of

had not yet been

invented.

Napier's conception of a logarithm

involved a perfectly clear apprehension of the

nature and consequences of a certain functional
relationship, at a time

when no general conception

of

of such a relationship had been formulated, or

existed
in

the

minds

Mathematicians,

and

before the intuitional aspect of that relationship

had been

clarified

by means of the great invention

of coordinate geometry

made

later in the century

by Ren Descartes.

A
;

modern Mathematician

regards the logarithmic function as the inverse of

an exponential function
familiar as

and

it

may seem

to us,

we

all

are with the use of operations

involving indices, that the conception of a loga-

rithm would present

itself in that

connection as a

8
fairly

JOHN NAPIER
obvious one.

We

must however remember

that, at the

time of Napier, the notion of an index,

in its generality,

was no part of the stock of ideas

and that the exponential

of a

Mathematician,

notation was not yet in use.

Summary of
I

the life

of Napier.

must content myself with giving an exceedlife

ingly brief account of the external facts of the

of Napier*.

John Napier^, the eighth Napier of Merchiston,

usually described as Baron, or Fear, of Merchiston,

was born

at

Merchiston near Edinburgh

Archibald Napier was
old.

in 1550,

when

his father

little

more

than sixteen years

at St

John Napier matriculated

Andrews

in

1563, but did not stay there

* For a full account of the life and activities of Napier the " " Memoirs of John Napier of Merchiston by Mark Napier,
published in 1834,
t

may be consulted. The name Napier was spelled in

various ways, several

of which were used by John

Napier; thus we find Napeir,

Nepair, Nepeir, Neper, Nepper, Naper, Napare, Naipper.

JOHN NAPIER
sufficiently

long

to
in

graduate,

as

he

departed

previous to

1566

order to pursue his studies

to

on the Continent, whence he returned

chiston in or before 1571.

Mer-

His

first

marriage, by

which he had one son Archibald who was raised

to the

peerage

in

1627 as Lord Napier, and one

daughter, took place in 1572.

few years after

the death of his wife in 1579, he married again.

By
five

his

second marriage he had

;

five

sons and

daughters

the second son, Robert, was his

literary executor.

The

invasion of the Spanish

Armada
tant, to

in

1588 led Napier, as an ardent Protes-

take a considerable part in Church politics.

first

In January 159^ he published his

plaine

work

"A
of

discovery

of

the
is

whole

Revelation

St John."

This book

regarded as of consider-

able importance in the history of Scottish theological

literature,

as

it

contained a method of

interpretation

much

in

advance of the age

in

it

passed through several editions

English, French,

German, and Dutch.

io

JOHN NAPIER
In July 1594, Napier entered into a curious

contract with a turbulent baron, Robert

Restalrig,
contract,

Logan of
In this

who had

just

been outlawed.

which appears to shew that John Napier

free

was not

from the prevalent belief

in

Magic,

he agreed to endeavour to discover a treasure

supposed to
Fast Castle.

lie

hidden

in

Logan's dwelling-place,
to receive a third part

Napier was

of the treasure

when
sail

found, in consideration that

"the said

J hone

do

his utter

&

exact

dili-

gens
that

to serche

&

sik out,

and be
trye,

al craft

& ingyne
out the
the

he dow, to tempt,

and

find

sam, and be the grace of God, ather

sail find

sam, or than

mak

it

suir that

na

sik thing hes

been thair
ingyne

sa far as his utter trawell diligens and

reach."
7,

may

In a document dated June

1596, Napier

gave an account of some secret inventions he had

made which were

"proffitabill

&

necessary in

theis dayes for the defence of this

Hand

&

with-

standing of strangers enemies of God's truth

&

JOHN NAPIER
relegion."

ii

His

activities in this direction

were no

doubt stimulated by the fear of the generally

expected invasion by
Philip

of Spain.

It

is

interesting to note them, in view of the military

tastes of

many of

his descendants.

The

inventions

consisted of a mirror for burning the enemies'

ships at any distance, of a piece of artillery capable

of destroying everything round an arc of a

circle,

and of a round metal chariot so constructed that

its

occupants could

move

it

rapidly and easily,

it.

while firing out through small holes in

practical bent of

Napier's

mind was

also exhibited in the

attention he paid to agriculture, especially on the

Merchiston

estate,

where the land was

salt.

tilled

by a

system of manuring with

There

is

evidence that Mathematics occupied

Napier's attention from an early age.

From a

MS.
title

that
"

was

first

published in 1839 under the

"
it

De

Arte Logistica

appears that his

investigations in Arithmetic

and Algebra had led

imaginary roots of

him

to a consideration of the

12

JOHN NAPIER
and
to a general

equations,

method
all

for the ex-

traction of roots of

numbers of

degrees.

But,

led probably

by the circumstances of the

in

time,

he

put aside this work

the discovery of

order to devote himself to

the labour

means of diminishing

involved in numerical computations.

half of the sixteenth century

The second
in

was the time

which

the Mathematicians of the Continent devoted a

great deal of attention to the calculation of tables

of natural trigonometrical functions.

The most
is

prominent name

in

this

connection

that

of

Georg Joachim Rheticus, the great computer whose work has never been superseded, and the
final result

of whose labours
for

is

embodied

in

the

table of natural sines

every ten seconds to

fifteen places of decimals,

published by Pitiscus in

1613, the year before the publication by Napier

of the discovery which was destined to revolutionize all

the methods of computation, and to

substitute the use of logarithmic for that of natural

trigonometrical

functions.

It

was

in

the early

JOHN NAPIER
Kepler was engaged
discovering,
in

13

years of the seventeenth century that Johannes

the prodigious task of
calculation,

and verifying by numerical

the laws of the motion of the planets.

In this age

of

numerical calculation

then

Napier occupied
'

himself with the invention of methods for the

diminution of the labour therein involved.

himself states
reference
will

He
which
the

in

his

"

Rabdologia,"

to

presently
is

be

made,

that

canon of logarithms
elaboratum."
that
It

"a

me

longo tempore
letter of

appears from a

Kepler
a

a Scotsman,

probably

Thomas

Craig,

friend of the

Napier family, gave the astronomer

in

Tycho Brahe

the year 1594 hopes that an

important simplification in the processes of arithmetic would become available.

There

is

strong

evidence that Napier communicated his hopes to

Craig twenty years before the publication of the

Canon.

The

"

Descriptio,"

of which an account will

be given presently, was as stated at the outset

JOHN NAPIER
About the same time Napier

published in 1614.

devised several mechanical aids for the perform-

ance of multiplications and divisions and

extraction of square

for the

and cube

roots.
in

He published
161 7
in

an account of these inventions

"

his

Rabdologia," as he says,

"

for the sake of those

who may prefer to work with the natural numbers." The method which Napier calls Rabdologia
consists

of

calculation

of

multiplications

and

divisions

by means of a
In

set of rods, usually called

"Napier's bones."
the
died.

publication

of

the

1617, immediately after "

Rabdologia,"

Napier

The

"

"

Descriptio

did not contain an account

"

" wonderful canon of the methods by which the

was constructed.

In an "Admonitio" printed at
11,

the end of Chapter

Napier explains that he

prefers, before publishing the

tion, to

method of construc-

await the opinion of the learned world

;

on the canon

he says

"

For

expect the judge-

ment

&

censure of learned

men

hereupon, before

JOHN NAPIER
the
rest

15
to

rashly

published,

be

exposed

the

detraction of the envious."

The
struction'

" Mirifici

Logarithmorum Canonis Confull

which contains a

explanation of the

method of construction of the wonderful canon,

and a
rithms,
clear account of Napier's theory of loga-

was published by

his son

Robert Napier
it

in 16 1 9.

In the preface by Robert Napier

is

stated that this

several

work was written by his father years before the word "logarithm" was

invented, and consequently at an earlier date than

that of the publication of the "Descriptio."

In

the latter the

out,

word

"

"

logarithm

is

used throughtitle,

but in the " Constructio," except in the

" numeri artificiales." logarithms are called

After

explaining that the author had not put the finishing touch to the
little treatise,

the Editor writes

"Nor do

doubt that

this

posthumous work

would have seen the

light in a

much more

perfect

&

finished state,
life

if

God had

granted a longer

enjoyment of

to the Author,

my

most dearly

JOHN NAPIER
men, among other
itself

beloved father, in whom, by the opinion of the

wisest
illustrious
gifts

this

shewed

pre-eminent, that the most

unravelled

difficult

matters were

by a sure and easy

words."

method, as well as

in the fewest

Reception of the Canon by Contemporary

Mathematicians.

The new
ol

invention attracted

the

attention

British

and Foreign Mathematicians with a

rapidity which

may

well surprise us

when we take
In

into account the circumstances of the time.

particular the publication of the wonderful

canon

was received by Kepler with marked enthusiasm.

In his

"Ephemeris"

for 1620,

Kepler published

as the dedication a letter addressed to Napier,

dated July 28, 161 9, congratulating him warmly

on

his invention

and on the

benefit he

had con-

upon Astronomy. Kepler explains how he verified the canon and found no essential errors
ferred

JOHN NAPIER
in
it,

17

beyond a few inaccuracies near the begin-

ning of the quadrant.

The

letter

was written two

years after Napier's death, of which Kepler had

not heard.

In 1624 Kepler himself published a

table of Napierian logarithms with modifications and additions. The " Descriptio," on its publi-

cation in

6 14, at once attracted the attention of

(1

Henry Briggs

556-1 630), Fellow of St John's

College, Cambridge,

Gresham Professor of Geoand afterwards

at

metry

in

the

City of London,

Savilian

Professor of

Geometry

Oxford,

to

whose work as the successor of Napier

in the task

of construction of logarithmic tables in an improved

form
to

shall

have to

refer later.

In a letter

Archbishop Ussher, dated Gresham

10,

House,

March

161

5,

Briggs wrote,

"

Napper, lord of

Markinston, hath set

with his
see

my
if it

head

&

hands a work
I

new
this

& admirable

logarithms.

hope
I

to

him

summer,

please God, for

better, or

never

saw book which pleased me

made me

more wonder."
H.

Briggs visited Napier, and stayed

JOHN NAPIER
him again in 16 17, been spared. Another eminent

with him a month in 1615, again visited him in

1

61 6, and intended to visit

life

had Napier's

English Mathematician,

Edward Wright, a Fellow

of Gonville and Caius College,

who

at

once saw

the importance of logarithms in connection with

navigation, in the history of which he occupies a

conspicuous place, translated the

"

Descriptio,"

but died in 161 5 before

it

could be published.
in

The
by

translation

was however published

1618

his son

Samuel Wright.
"

The

" contents of the Descriptio " Construction

and of

the

The
title

"

"

Descriptio

consists of

an ornamental

page, fifty-seven pages of explanatory matter,

tables.

and ninety pages of

the tables
is

specimen page of

here reproduced.

The

explanatory

matter contains an account of Napier's conception

of a logarithm, and of the principal properties of
logarithms, and also of their application in the

Gr.
P
fnin\

+
1

Smut

Logarithmi

Differentia

U^arithmi

Sinus

1*6434? 1*67218 1570091

18**1174 18427295 18532826 18408484 18514*11' 18389707

1849*23* 18477984 1 8459772 18441594 18423451 18405341 18387265 18369223 18351214

113*81 124342 124804

9876882 5876427 9875971

60
59
_**

1572964
15787?
1581*81 1*84453 15873** 1590197 1593069 I59594I 1598812 1601684 1604555

370964 183*2253 i83>35 76

j

125267 12*731
1

26 196

183H933
18296324 18277747 18259203 18240692 18222213

126662 127127
i"-7*94

9875514 57 987*056 56 9874597 jj 0874137 *4 9873677 *3 9873216 *2

128062 128*31 129061

9872754
9872291 9871827
J

51

50

18333237 18315294 182^7384

18203765 1818*3*1 18166969

29472 129943 130415

?

1607426 1610297 1613168

1616038 1618909 1621779

18279*07 18261663 182438*1

18226071 18208323 18190606

18148619 18130301 18112014

18093758 1807*533 180573 8
z

130888]
1

62

131837

13*313 132790 133268

9871362 9870897 98704^1 9869964 9869496 9869027 1 9X6^5 57.1 9868087 9867616 I

49 48 47 46
4*

44
43

4*
41 43
39 38 37
36 3*

1624649 1627*19 1630389

76 33~259
1636129 1638999

1641868 1644738 1647607

16*0476
I

18172924 1815*273 18137654 18120067 18102*11 18084987 1806749* 18050034 18032604

18039177 18021047 18002948

133747
13-4226

134706

9867144 9866671 9866197

9*65722 9865246 9864770

17984880 17966842 17948835

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13*187 13*669 136152

136636 137121 137607

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u
30
ttin

80

JOHN NAPIER
solution of plane

19

and

spherical triangles.

Napier's

well-known rules of circular parts containing the

complete system of formulae for the solution of
right-angled spherical triangles are

here given.

The

logarithms given in the tables are those of

the sines of angles from o to 90 at intervals of

one minute, to seven or eight

is

figures.

The

table

arranged semi-quadrantally, so that the loga-

rithms of the sine and the cosine of an angle

appear on the same

given
in

line,

their difference being

the table of differentiae which thus forms

logarithmic
that,

a table of

tangents.

It

must be
after-

remembered

at that time

and long

wards, the sine of an angle was not regarded, as

at present, as a ratio, but as the length of that

semi-chord of a circle of given radius which subtends the angle at the centre.
7

Napier took the

radius to consist of io units, and thus the sine of

90,

called

the whole sine,

is

iov

the sines of

smaller angles decreasing from this value to zero.

The

table

is

therefore one of the logarithms of

2

2o

JOHN NAPIER
7

numbers between io and

o,

not for equidistant

numbers, but for the numbers corresponding to

equidistant angles.
that
It
is

important to observe
tables are not

the logarithms

in

Napier's

what we now know under the name of Napierian

or
natural
e.

logarithms,

i.e.

logarithms

to

the

base
to

His logarithms are more closely related

the

those to
if

base

i/e

the

exact

relation

is

that,

Nap
is

number,

and

Log x

its

logarithm

in

accordance with
.

Napier's

tables,

% ^
T

Nap

qqt

io
;

is

the

logarithm b

of

X io

t 7

to

the

base

lie

thus

X
io'

>

/l

Nap Log.*
io'

\ej

or

Log x = o
i

Nap

log e

o
i

loge x.
exist-

Napier had no

explicit
,

knowledge of the

ence of the number

nor of the notion of the

base of a system of logarithms, although as

shall see

we

he was

fully

cognizant of the arbitrary

JOHN NAPIER
element
in

21

the possible

systems of logarithms.
to

making the logarithms of the sines of angles between o and 90 i.e. of numbers between o and io positive
7
,

His choice was made with a view

and so as to contain a considerable

integral part

The

"

Constructio

"

consists of a preface of

two pages, and

fifty-seven
is

pages of

text.

The

conception of a logarithm

here clearly explained,

and a

full

account

is

given of the successive steps

In

by which the Canon was actually constructed.

this

work one of the four formulae

for the solution

of spherical triangles,
is

known

as Napier's analogies,
;

given,

expressed in words

the

other three

formulae were afterwards added by Briggs, being

easily deducible

from Napier's

results.

The decimal

point.

Our present

notation for numbers with the

decimal point appears to have been independently

invented by Napier, although a point or a half
bracket
is

said to have been

employed somewhat

22
earlier

JOHN NAPIER
by Jobst
Biirgi for the

purpose of separat-

ing the decimal places from the integral part of a

number*.

The

invention of decimal fractions was

(i

due to Simon Stevin

a tract in Dutch,
the

548-1 620),
Thiende,"

who

published

"De
in

in 1585,

and
"

in

same year one

in

French under the

title

La

Disme,"

which the system of decimal fractions

in

was introduced, and

which a decimal system of

weights, measures and coinage was recommended.

In the "Rabdologia" Napier refers to Stevin

'*

in

an

Admonitio pro Decimali Arithmetica

"

in

which

he emphasizes the simplification arising from the

use of decimals, and introduces the notation with
the decimal
notation
point.
1

By

Stevin and others the

or 94 i'fo'"f",

94 3 o 5

for example,

was used instead of Napier's notation

94*1305.

Later on Briggs sometimes used the

It
is

notation 941305.

clear that the notation

introduced by Napier, which was however not

* The decimal point was
tables "
also

employed by

Pitiscus

in

the

appended

to the later edition, published in

1612, of his

Trigonometria."

JOHN NAPIER
was
far better

23

universally adopted until the eighteenth century,

adapted than the more complicated

notation used

by Stevin and

later writers to bring

out the complete parity of the integral and decimal

parts of a
arithmetic,

number

in relation to the operations

of

and to emphasize the

decimal fractions

fact

that the

system of

involves

only an

extension of the fundamental conception of our

system of notation
value of a

for integral

numbers, that the

is

digit, in relation to
its

the decimal scale,

completely indicated by

position.

Napier s
1

definition

of a logarithm.

24
S.

JOHN NAPIER
He
supposes that on another straight line a
with uniform velocity equal to that
at T,

point

Q moves
at T.

which

P has when
course of

and that

is

at

lt

when

P
Pj

is

When P
its
is

has any particular position

motion, the logarithm of the
defined to be the

in the

sine or length

SP
Q

number
x

representing the length

position
<2i

TQ
X

X ,

from

of

at the

time when

T to the P is at P
x,

Thus
is

the logarithm of the whole sine

TS(=

io7 )

o,

and the logarithm of any sine and increases

less

than io7

is

positive

indefinitely as the sine

in

diminishes to zero.

Napier recognized that

accordance with this definition, the logarithm of

a number greater than io7 corresponding to Sp lf
,

where

is

the position of
will

P when

it

has not yet

reached T,
position of
lt

be negative, the corresponding

x
.

of
lt

Q being on the left of T Let Q Q Q <2 be a number of positions and let Q such that Q Q = Q Q =Q Q =
2
,

...

...

P P P
2>

...

be the corresponding positions of

X

P;

so that

P P^ P P
2

P%P

are

spaces

JOHN NAPIER
described

25

by

in

equal times.

Napier then

shews by means of

special illustrations that

and thus
of

that,

corresponding to a series of values,

T^Q

that are in arithmetic progression, there

are a series of values of

progression.

SP that

are in geometric

The

matter

may be

put in a concise form

which represents the gist of Napier's reasoning,

and of the
intuition.

essential point of

which he had a clear

P
> 1

P'

r-J

Let
in

PS = PS
-p-*
-^-p.
:

and

let

be

any point
in

PP
x

it

and /' the corresponding point

:

P P,
t

so that

the

The velocity of P,p pP^P^p' p'P moving point when at/ bears a constant ratio
3
.

^=^=-~-p)
As
this

to

its

velocity

when

at

/.

holds for every corresponding pair of

26

JOHN NAPIER
P P P P
X

points p,p' in the two intervals

it is

dear that the motion

in

P^P
;

takes place in the

all

same time

as that in

PJ\

the velocities at
in the

corresponding points being changed

ratio,

same

that of

PP
x
1

to

PP
2

Hence

the result

follows that

PtS P S P S
t
t

P S_P m S_P m S_ m"

2

u
are

if

the points

lf

<2 2

Q Q
3
,

...

such that

QiQ*=Q*Q*=Q%Qi=->\

i.e.

if

the spaces

PP
x

%t

PP PP
2

...

are described in equal times.

Thus

the logarithms of a set of numbers in geometric

progression
gression.

are

themselves

in

arithmetic

pro-

In our modern notation,

if

x = SP, we

have

=
dt
at

io

r, 7

where

denotes the velocity of

P
=;

T; and

if

thus -yV'T.Q, -Z=V\ * dt dy

=
to

io7

and accordingly Napier's method amounts

an

intuitional representation of the integration of this

differential equation.

JOHN NAPIER

27

The

limits

of a logarithm.
available

As no method was
logarithm
could

by which a

be calculated to an arbitrarily

great degree of approximation, Napier obtained

two
and

limits

between which a logarithm must

lie,

his

whole method of construction depends

limits,

upon the use of these

sponding

together with corre-

limits for the value of the difference of

the logarithms of two numbers.

S
1

the same,

ft

T,

Since the velocities of

and

at T,

are

and the velocity of

decreases afterit

wards whereas that of

clear that

remains constant,
t

is

TP
7\

<

T^Q^.
in

of

be described

Again let p T on the left the same time as TPXi so

then clear that

that ^7",

Qv

It is

p T>q T
l
l

28

JOHN NAPIER
If

x = P S, hogx=
1

Nap

T Q
X

we

thus have

hogx> TP
and
7

Nap

lt

or jo7
or

x;
1

Log x=y T
1

Nap

<f> T,
1

TP

IQ

-,

which

is

(io

-*) x
'

Thus
7

(io

x)

Q >Logx>
7

Nap

io

...(i);

these are Napier's limits for a logarithm. In a similar

manner
Nap

it is

shewn
io

that

yx > \ohogx Logy>

Nap

y -

x
...(2),

where

x<y;
for

these are the limits which Napier

Nap
Nap

employs

Log x Log
and

jj/.

The
in

results (1)

(2)

were given by Napier

words, no short designation being employed

for a logarithm.

even

Napier s

construction of the canon.

The

first

step taken by Napier in the process

of constructing the canon was to form three tables

JOHN NAPIER
of numbers in geometric progression.
table consists of 101 numbers, of

29

The
is

first

which io7

the

first,

and of which

io7

is

the

common

ratio

thus (in

modern
7
(

notation) the table consists of the

numbers io
100.

io /

; 7

where r has the values o

to

Each number was formed by subtracting from the preceding one the number obtained by
moving the
digits

seven places to the

right.

First Table

XV~itf)>
I

'-oto
iooj

OOOOOOO'OOOOOOO I'OOOOOOO

99999990000000
-9999999

9999998 'OOOOOO I
'9999998

999999 7 '0000003
'9999997

9999996*0000006
to be continued

up

to

9999900*0004950

30

JOHN NAPIER
The second
table consists of the 51
...

numbers

io7 (i

1)

where r = o,
is

1,

50.

The com(

mon

ratio

nearly equal to

that of the last

first

number

in the first table, to the

in that table.

Second Table
r

Io7

(
I

-^) "'*}
'

OOOOOOO'OOOOOO IOO'OOOOOO
9999900*000000 99*999000
9999800*001000

to

be continued up to
9995001*222927

In this table there

the last

is

an arithmetical error, as

number should be 9995001*224804; the

on the canon
will

effect of this error

be referred

to later.

The
1

ratio of the last

50

number
I

to the first

is

"

N
'

loV

Whkh

is

nearly

~ 2oW'

JOHN NAPIER
The
number
1

31

third table consists of

69 columns, and

each column contains

in

21
is

numbers.
obtained
in

The

first

any column
the
first

by taking

y^

of

number
in

the preceding

column.

The numbers

any one column are

1

obtained by successive multiplication by

thus

275V0

the/^ number

in the

th

column

is

Third Table
First
I

column

Second column

69th column
.

OOOOOOO "oooo
9995000*0000 9990002*5000 9985007*4987 continued to 9900473-5780

9900000-0000 9895050*0000 9890102-4750 9885157-4237

continued to

5048858*8900 5046334-4605 5043811-2932 5041289-3879 continued to

9801468-8423

4998609-4034

The

ratio of the last to the first

is
(
1

number
is

in

any one column

i-t4tt or
It will
i^fr-

^uVo")

20
,

which

nearly

be observed that the

is

last

number of the

last

column

less

than half the radius, and thus

corresponds to the sine of an angle somewhat less

than 30.

32
In
this

JOHN NAPIER
table
in

there are,

speaking roughly,
:

68 numbers
7

the ratio
;

ioo

99 interpolated

between io and \\d

are
interpolated
:

and between each of these

in

twenty numbers

the

ratio

10000

9995.
tables,

Having formed these

Napier proceeds

to obtain with sufficient approximation the loga-

rithms of the numbers in the tables.

For

this

purpose his theorems

(1)

and

(2) as to the limits

first table,

of logarithms are sufficient.

In the

the
(1),

logarithm of 9999999

is,

in

accordance with

between rooooooi and I'ooooooo, and Napier

takes the
arithmetic

mean 1*00000005

f r

tne

required logarithm.
sine
in

The
is

logarithm of the next

2 "0000002

the

table
for
this

between

and
for

2 0000000;

he takes 2-00000010,

the next sine 3*00000015, and so on.

The theorem
the logarithms

(2) is

used to obtain limits

to

for

of

numbers nearly equal

In this

number

in the first table.

way

the loga-

rithm of 9999900 the second number in the second

JOHN NAPIER
table
is

33

found to

lie

between 100*0005050 and

100*0004950; the next logarithm has limits double

of these, and so on.
sine
in

The

logarithm of the
is

last
lie

the

second table

thus found

to

between 5000*0252500 and 5000*0247500.

The

logarithms of the numbers in the second table

having thus been found to a

sufficient

degree of

approximation, the logarithm of a number near

one

in

the second table

sine,

is

found thus

Let
then

y
;

be the given
say y < x. J y
Nap

the nearest sine in the table

Determine z so that
Nap
Nap

=10
; 7

Log g = Log z Log

Nap
find the limits of

io

= Logjj/ Log

Nap

Nap

.a:

Logz by means of the

first table,

and when these are found add them

Nap

to those of

Nap

Log:r, and
this

we

thus get the limits of Logy.

In

manner
the
table;

limits are
in

found for the logarithms

the
first

of

all

numbers

column of the

third

thus those of

9900473*57808 are

100024*9657720 and
h.

100024*9757760,

and
3

the

34
logarithm
is

JOHN NAPIER
taken to be
100024*9707740, the
of the two limits.

mean

The

first

number
fifth

in

the second column differs only in the

cypher

from the
its

last

number

in the first

column, and thus

approximately.

logarithm can be calculated

logarithms of
all

The

the other numbers in the

table can then

all

be found, since the logarithms of

the numbers in any one column, or in any one

row, are in arithmetic progression.

When
table

the logarithms of

all

the numbers in

the third table have

thus

been calculated, the

in
is

formed
his

by

filling

them
and

is

called

by

Napier

radical

table,

of the form

given on the opposite page.

The

radical table being completed, the logait

rithms in

are employed for the calculation of

the principal table or canon.

For

this

purpose

the logarithms of sines very nearly equal to the

whole sine io7 are obtained simply by subtracting

the given sine from io
?
.

The

logarithm of a sine
is

embraced within the

limits of the radical table

<3

36
found thus
nearest
:

JOHN NAPIER

Let
in

be the given
;

sine,
;

the

sine
?

the table

say

x >y

calculate

(xy) io and divide it either by x or by y, or by some number between the two then add the
;

result to the logarithm of the table sine.

For the purpose of finding the logarithm of a sine which is not embraced within the limits of
the
radical
table,

Napier gives

short

table

containing the difference of the logarithms of two

sines of which the ratio
ratios 2
:

is

compounded of the

1,

and 10

1.

Short Table
Given

JOHN NAPIER
Nap

37

To

calculate this table,

7 Napier found Log io

Nap

and Log 500000 by using the

radical table

and

thus 6931469*22 was found as the difference of

the logarithms of numbers in the ratio 2:1.

The
:

difference of logarithms of sines in the ratio 8

is

three times 6931469*22,

i.e.

20794407*66.

The

sine
to

8000000

is

found by using the radical table

have

for its logarithm 2231434*68,

whence by
is

addition the logarithm

of the sine 1000000

found to be 23025842*34.
times this sine,
all

Since the radius

:

is
1

ten
will

sines in the ratio 10

for
rest

have

this

number

the

difference
table

of

their

logarithms.

The

of the

was

then

calculated from these determinations.

The

logarithms of

all

sines that are outside

the limits of the radical table could

now be
2,

deter8, ...

mined.
200,
...

Multiply the given sine by

or by any proportional

4,

number

in

the

short table, until a

number within the

found.

limits of

the radical table

is

Find the logarithm

38

JOHN NAPIER
the difference which the short table indicates.

of the sine given by the radical table, and add to

it

In the manner described, the logarithms of

all

sines of angles

between

and 45

could

now

be determined, and the principal table or canon

completed.

Napier gave,

however,

rule

by

which when the logarithms

less

for all the angles not

all

than 45

are known, the logarithms for

the angles less than 45 can be determined.

rule

This

we may
7

write in the form

Nap
sin

Nap

Log \ io + Log

x
Nap Nap
sin (90

= Log sin \x+ Log

which follows from the
fact

\x),
& 2
.

that

cos ^-x =
sin

sin

\x

when we

take

into account

the change in

the

definition of a sine.

It

The accuracy of Napier s Canon. has been observed above that a numerical

error occurs in the value of the last

number

in

the second

table.

As Napier employed

this

JOHN NAPIER
inaccurate

39
it

value

in

his
in

further

calculations,

produced an error
logarithmic tables.
that

the

greater

part

of his
error
is

The

effect of this

most of the logarithms are diminished by

correct
"

about J io~ 6 of their

himself observes in the

values.

Napier

Constructio" that some

of the logarithms he obtained by

for finding the logarithms of

means of

his rule

numbers outside the

in

limits of the radical table

differ

value from

the logarithms of the

same numbers found by the

rule for determining the logarithms of sines of

angles less than 45 .

He

attributes

this

dis-

crepancy to defects in the values of the natural

sines he employed,

and suggested a recalculation

8

of natural sines in which io should be the radius.

Owing

to these

two causes, the

is

last figure in the

logarithms of the canon

not always correct.

The improved system of logarithms.

The

special purpose of application to trigono-

metrical calculations accounts for Napier's choice

40

JOHN NAPIER
io
7

of the system in which the logarithm of

zero,

is

and the logarithms of sines of angles between

positive.
It
is,

and 90 are

however, clear

that the rule of the equality of the

sum

of the

logarithms of two numbers and that of their pro-

duct would hold for numbers

if

in

general,

only

the logarithm of unity were taken to be zero,

as

number

is

unaltered

by multiplication by
an appendix

unity.

On
"

this account, Napier, in

to the

Constructio," proposed the calculation of

a system of logarithms in which

Log

= o, and

Logio=io
tion

10
.

This

is

practically equivalent to
1,

the assumption

Log 10=

as the former assump-

merely indicates that the logarithms are to

Briggs
College,

be calculated to 10 places of decimals.

pointed out, in his lectures at
that

Gresham

system would be convenient, on .which

1,

o should be the logarithm of

tenth part of the whole sine

and io10

that of the 44/ 21 "),

10
.

(viz.

sin 5

which would be equivalent to

Log^= io

This

system he suggested to Napier during

his visit

JOHN NAPIER
to

41
out

Merchiston

in

161

5,

when Napier pointed

that the

same

idea had occurred to himself, but

that the assumption

Log 10=

io10 would lead to

all,

the most convenient system of

at once admitted

and

this

was

by Briggs. In the appendix above referred

to,

Napier

gives

some

indications of

methods by which the

calculated.

improved logarithms might be

These

depend upon exceeding laborious successive extractions of fifth

and of square

roots,

which work

he proposed should be carried out by others,

and especially by Briggs.

In an "Admonitio"

" Constructio," printed in the

that
it

Napier remarked

is

a matter of free choice to what sine or

is

number the logarithm o

necessary frequently to
the

assigned,

that

it

is

multiply or

divide
that

by
a

complete

sine

(sin 90),
if

and thus

saving of trouble arises

the logarithm of this

sine be taken to be zero.

Briggs immediately set about the calculation

of these improved logarithms, and in the following

42
year,

JOHN NAPIER
when he again
visited Napier,

shewed him

a large part of the table which was afterwards

published in 1624.
161 7

On

the death of Napier in

the whole

work of developing the new

"

invention passed into the skilful hands of Briggs,

who,

in the

same

year, published his

Logarith-

morum

Chilias Prima," containing the

first

common
he

or

Briggian logarithms of the

to

thousand numbers

14 places

of

decimals.

In

1624

pub-

lished the "Arithmetica Logarithmica," a table of

logarithms of the

first

20000 numbers and of the

to 100000, to

numbers from 90000

decimals.

14 places of

was
in

fitted

The gap between 20000 and 90000 up by Adrian Vlacq, who published
Gouda a
1

1628 at

table of to
1

common

logarithms
of

of numbers from
decimals.
error,

00000, to

10 places

Vlacq's tables, although not free from

all

have formed the basis of

the numerous
that

tables of logarithms of natural

numbers

have

been since published.

JOHN NAPIER
Other Tables.

43

table of logarithms exactly similar to those

"

of Napier in|the " Constructio

was published

in

1624 by Benjamin

Ursinus at Cologne.

The

intervals of the angles are 10",

and the logarithms

first

are given to 8 places.

The

logarithms to

the base e were published by John Speidell in his

"New
for

Logarithmes," in London

in

1619; this table

contains logarithmic sines, tangents and secants

every minute of the quadrant to

decimal

places.

Predecessors of Napier.
It
is

usually the case that the fundamental

in

conceptions involved

a great new invention

have a

history,

which reaches back to a time,

before that of the inventor.
is

often a long time,

Although Napier's introduction of logarithms

justly

entitled

to

be regarded as a really new

44
invention,
it

JOHN NAPIER
is

not an exception to the usual rule.

The

notion of an integral power of a ratio was

employed by the Greek Mathematicians.

The

nature of the correspondence between a geometric

progression and an arithmetic

progression

had
In
his
in

been observed by various Mathematicians.

particular

Michael
"

Stifel

(i

486-1 567),

in

celebrated

Arithmetica

Integra,"

published

1544, expressly indicated the relations

between

operations with the terms of a geometric and an

arithmetic series, in which the terms are

made

to

correspond,
tion,

viz.

the relations between multiplica-

division

and

exponentiation

on the

one

hand, and addition, subtraction and multiplication

or division

by an integer on the other hand.

Stifel or others

But no indication was given by

how

this

correspondence

could

be

utilized

for

the purpose of carrying out difficult arithmetical

calculations.

There were

even

given
Stevin
the

by the
(1548-

Belgian

Mathematician
special

Simon

1620) certain

tables for

calculation

JOHN NAPIER
n ff

45

of interest, consisting of tables of the values of

, '

and of

(i+r)

i+r

-,

(i+rf

ej

+ ... +
(i+r)
really

The

first

of these tables are

tables

of

antilogarithms, but there were given no theoretical

explanations which would extend the use of the

tables

beyond

their

special

purpose.

Napier,

whether he was acquainted with

or not, was the
to
first

Stifel's

work
him

whose

insight enabled
relations

develop

the

theoretical

between

geometric and arithmetic series into a method

of the most
to

far-reaching
calculations

importance
in

in

regard

arithmetic

general.

On

the

theoretical side,

Napier's representation by con-

tinuously

moving points involved the conception of a functional relationship between two convariables,

tinuous

whereas

Stifel

and

others

had merely considered the relationship between two discrete

sets of

numbers.

This was
in

in itself

a step of the greatest importance

the develop-

ment of Mathematical Analysis.

46

JOHN NAPIER
A
No

rival inventor.

account of the

invention of logarithms
to

would be complete without some reference

the

work of Jobst Biirgi (i 552-1632), a Swiss watch-maker and instrument-maker, who independently invented a

system

of

logarithms.

His system was published

in 1620, after Napier's

fully recognized,

Canon had become known and

in

work

entitled

"Arithmetische

und Geois

metrische Progress-Tabulen."

The

table

really

an antilogarithmic

table,

and

consists of a set of

numbers printed red placed in correspondence The red with a set of numbers printed black.

numbers are
series,
1

o, 10, 20,

...

those of an arithmetic

and the corresponding black numbers are

00000000,
;

series

0002000 1, of a geometric thus the red numbers are the logarithms of

1 1
8 by io with the base

000 1 0000,

the

black ones divided

Biirgi

y i*O0Ol.

appears to

have devised

his

JOHN NAPIER
system a good
but kept
six
it

47
it,

many

years before he published

secret until he published his tables

after

years

the

appearance

of

those

of

Napier.

Conclusion.

The system
that of Napier,

of Biirgi

is

decidedly inferior to

and the knowledge of the use of

logarithms which

was spread

in

the

scientific

world was entirely due to the work of Napier.

The concensus
Science of
the
full
all

of opinion

among men

of

nations has

ascribed to

Napier

honour due to the inventor of the method

tool

which has provided the modern world with a

that
is

indispensable for

all

elaborate arithmetical

calculations.

In
in

the great advance which had

taken place
half
"

Mathematical Science during the

the

century preceding the publication of

Constructio," British Mathematicians had taken

part.
It is

no

very remarkable

that, in

a country

48
distracted

JOHN NAPIER
by
political, social,

and

religious feuds

of the most serious kind, such as Scotland then

was, there should have arisen the

first

of those

great thinkers
teenth

who

in

the course of the sevenBritain

to

century brought Great

the

highest point of achievement in the domain of

Mathematical Science.

CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A. AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS

UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY

AA

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