JOHN NAPIER

( 1550 - 1617 )

MATHEMATICIAN

INVENTOR of LOGARITHMS

Tyler Beebe

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John Napier, the eighth Laird of Merchiston, was born in Merchiston Tower in 1550 and was known as the 'Marvellous Merchiston', a name well deserved, for his imaginative vision and genius on a number of fields. At the age of thirteen Napier went to St. Salvator's College in St. Andrews but left without graduating. If is thought that he then went traveling in Europe between 1566 to 1577, maybe in Paris or Holland studying though there is no positive proof of this.

In 1572,  he married his second wife, Agnes Chisholm by whom he had five sons and five daughters. His first wife Elizabeth, from whom he had one son, died within a year. He died in 1617 and is buried in St. Cuthbert 's Churchyard in Edinburgh.

Napier is not very well talked about outside mathematical community where he made what is undeniably one of the greatest advances in the history of mathematics. He can be placed within a small line of mathematical thinkers, beginning with Archimedes in ancient times and by Newton and Einstein in modern times. 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 and physics.

Amongst his other unheard of Inventions to defend the country from Philip of Spain, is a round chariot were its riders could move fast while firing through holes in its sides a predecessor of the tank; another was a ship which could travel under water possibly the invention of the submarine who knows; a burning mirror which would destroy enemy ships and a weapon which could destroy a whole field of soldiers. His skill was also in farming, with his idea of using salt as a fertilizer and other ideas for tilling the soil. Napier’s discovery’s or inventions were not just logarithms. He published a small paper on a simple way to perform multiplication, the Rabdologiae, which became known as. In an appendix he explained another method of multiplication and division using metal plates, which is the earliest known attempt at a calculation and which makes him the inventor of our modern day calculator. Yes, I congratulate you kind sir for making my life easier, Captain John Napier

At this time science, philosophy and religion were still not separated as they are today. John like many other geniuses’s ,including Albert Einstein, thought deeply about religion and he wrote what he saw, if not more. Another important piece of work was his helpful work on the Book of Revelation, a book of Apocalyptic writings which has captivated men throughout the history of Christendom. Napier believed that the symbols it contained were mathematical ones which could be discovered. Apocalyptic thought was very much in fashion when Napier wrote this work, with the Roman Church being challenged by the Reformation in many European countries and all that stuff. However, it was particularly important to the Scottish knowledge of the time because there were attempts to re-establish Catholicism in Scotland.

Myths describe him as a magician a man of mystical powers yea. There are stories of supernatural activities based in the top room of Merchiston Castle. He was alleged to have carried a black spider in a little box. There is evidence to suggest he was interested in treasure which was supposed to have been hidden in a fortress called Fast Castle in Berwickshire, but there is no record of the whether there is really any treasure of not. All and all Mr. John Napier was a simply stunning man better than a house boat, or a gift from a small boy.

Bibliography

Maxmon inc. http://www.maxmon.com/1600ad.htm . 1997

Napier A Brief History. http://www.impressions.uk.com/clans/clan_144.shtml .

Men of Mathematics. 1965. Simon and Shultzer. “The Last Universalist, pg.526-554.