John Napier

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For other people with the same name, see John Napier (disambiguation).

John Napier of Merchistoun (1550 – 4 April 1617), nicknamed Marvellous Merchistoun, was a Scottish mathematician, physicist, astronomer/astrologer and 8th Laird of Merchistoun. He is most remembered as the inventor of logarithms and Napier's bones, and for popularizing the use of the decimal point. Napier's birth place, Merchiston Tower, Edinburgh, Scotland, is now part of Napier University. After dying of gout, Napier was buried in St Cuthbert's Church, Edinburgh.

Contents 1 Advances in mathematics 2 Theology 3 Honours 4 Trivia 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 Bibliography

[edit] Advances in mathematics

Napier is relatively little-known outside mathematical and engineering circles, where he made what is undoubtedly a key advance in the use of mathematics. Logarithms made calculations by hand much easier and quicker, 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, physics, and astrology. He also invented Napier's bones, a multiplication aid.

[edit] Theology

Napier used some of his mathematical talents for theology, as he used the Book of Revelation to predict the Apocalypse. Napier believed that the end of the world would occur in 1688 or 1700. He is also sometimes claimed to have been a necromancer; however, it was common for scientifically talented people of the period to be accused of such things without basis.

[edit] Honours

An alternative unit to the decibel used in electrical engineering, the neper, is named after John Napier, as is Napier University in Edinburgh.

Neper crater, on the Moon, is also named after him,[1] as was a 1992 asteroid, 7096 Napier.

[edit] Trivia

Napier was able to use his black rooster to tell which of his servants had been stealing from his home. He would shut the suspects in a room with the rooster one at a time and told them to stroke it and it would then tell Napier who had done it. In actual fact what would happen is that he would cover the rooster in charcoal and the servants who were innocent would have no problem stroking it but the guilty would pretend he had and when Napier examined their hands, the one with the clean hands was guilty. ^[1]

[edit] See also

• List of universities named after people

[edit] Notes

1. ^ http://www.johnnapier.com/john_napier_and_the_devil.htm John Napier and the Devil

[edit] References

• O'Connor, John J., and Edmund F. Robertson. "John Napier". MacTutor History of Mathematics archive.
• Diploudis, Alexandros. Undusting Napier's Bones. Heriot-Watt University, 1997.
• "John Napier." Math & Mathematicians: The History of Math Discoveries around the World. 2 vols. U*X*L, 1999.
• John Napier. The History of Computing Project.
• John Napier--Short biography and translation of work on logarithms
• Johnston, Ian. Scots genius who paved way for Newton's discoveries. The Scotsman, May 14, 2005.
• Intro to Spherical Trig. Includes discussion of The Napier circle and Napier's rules

[edit] Bibliography

• (1593) Plaine Discovery of the Whole Revelation of St. John
• (1614) Mirifici logarithmorum canonis descriptio (a translation into English by Edward Wright was published in 1616)
• (1617) Rhabdologia