Mathematician:John Napier

Mathematician

Scots mathematician famous for his development of natural logarithms.

Nationality

Scottish

History

• Born: 1550, Merchiston Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland
• Died: 4 April 1617, Edinburgh, Scotland

Theorems and Definitions

• Napier's Bones
• Natural (Napierian) logarithms
• Napier's Constant (better known as Euler's Number)

• Napier's Rules of Circular Parts‎:
  • Napier's Rules for Right Spherical Triangles
  • Napier's Rules for Quadrantal Triangles

• Napier's Analogies

Results named for John Napier can be found here.

Definitions of concepts named for John Napier can be found here.

Publications

• 1593: Plaine Discovery of the Whole Revelation of St. John
• 1614: Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio (in which Napierian logarithms appear)
• 1617: Rabdologiae (posthumous) (in which Napier's Bones are described)

Also known as

John Napier's name is spelt variously as Jhone, and Napeir, Nepair, Nepeir, Neper, Napare, Naper, Naipper.

Sources

• John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson: "John Napier": MacTutor History of Mathematics archive

• 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): A List of Mathematicians in Chronological Sequence
• 1989: Ephraim J. Borowski and Jonathan M. Borwein: Dictionary of Mathematics ... (previous) ... (next): Napier, John (1550-1617)
• 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): A List of Mathematicians in Chronological Sequence
• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Napier, John (1550-1617)
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Napier, John (1550-1617)
• 2008: Ian Stewart: Taming the Infinite ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $5$: Eternal Triangles: Logarithms
• 2014: Christopher Clapham and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Napier, John (1550-1617)
• 2021: Richard Earl and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (6th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Napier, John (1550-1617)