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John Napier
John Napier (1550-1617)
John Napier (1550-1617)
Born1550
Merchiston Tower, Edinburgh, Scotland
Died4 April 1617
Edinburgh, Scotland
ResidenceScotland
NationalityScottish
FieldsMathematician
Alma materSt Andrews University
Known forLogarithms
Napier's bones
Decimal notation
InfluencesHenry Briggs
Religious stanceProtestant
For other people with the same name, see John Napier (disambiguation). Merchiston Castle or Merchiston Tower was probably built by Alexander Napier the second Laird of Merchiston around 1454 Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow. The Kingdom of Scotland ( Gaelic: Rìoghachd na h-Alba, Scots: Kinrick o Scotland) was a State in northwest Europe Events 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I. Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. The Scots people ( Scots Gaelic: Albannaich) are a Nation and an Ethnic group indigenous to Scotland. A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study and research is the field of Mathematics. Alma mater is Latin for "nourishing mother" It was used in Ancient Rome as a title for the mother Goddess, and in Medieval The University of St Andrews is the oldest University in Scotland and third oldest in the English-speaking world, having been founded between In Mathematics, the logarithm of a number to a given base is the power or Exponent to which the base must be raised in order to produce Napier's bones is an Abacus created by John Napier for Calculation of products and quotients of numbers that was based on Arab mathematics and In a positional Numeral system, the decimal separator is a Symbol used to mark the boundary between the integral and the fractional Henry Briggs may refer to Henry Briggs (mathematician (1561–1630 Henry Briggs (politician (Sir (1844–1919 Henry Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. John Napier is the name of John Napier (1550–1617 was a Scottish mathematician physicist and astronomer

John Napier of Merchistoun (1550 – 4 April 1617) - also signed as Neper, Nepair - named Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish mathematician, physicist, astronomer/astrologer and 8th Laird of Merchistoun, son of Sir Archibald Napier of Merchiston. Events 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and A physicist is a Scientist who studies or practices Physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning Historically Astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky while Astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena An astrologer practices one or more forms of Astrology. Typically an astrologer draws a Horoscope for the time of an event such as a person's birth and interprets A Laird (Lord is a Hereditary title for the owner of a landed estate in Scotland. He is most remembered as the inventor of logarithms and Napier's bones, and for popularizing the use of the decimal point. In Mathematics, the logarithm of a number to a given base is the power or Exponent to which the base must be raised in order to produce Napier's bones is an Abacus created by John Napier for Calculation of products and quotients of numbers that was based on Arab mathematics and In a positional Numeral system, the decimal separator is a Symbol used to mark the boundary between the integral and the fractional Napier's birth place, Merchiston Tower, Edinburgh, Scotland, is now part of Napier University. Merchiston Castle or Merchiston Tower was probably built by Alexander Napier the second Laird of Merchiston around 1454 Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow. Napier University is a University in Edinburgh, Scotland. History Napier University was opened as Napier Technical College After dying of gout, Napier was buried in St Cuthbert's Church, Edinburgh. Gout (also called metabolic arthritis) is a disease created by a buildup of Uric acid. Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow.

Contents

Advances in mathematics

Napier is relatively most-known inside 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. In Mathematics, the logarithm of a number to a given base is the power or Exponent to which the base must be raised in order to produce His work, Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio, contained fifty-seven pages of explanatory matter and ninety pages of tables, which facilitated the furtherment of astronomy, dynamics, physics, and astrology. Astronomy (from the Greek words astron (ἄστρον "star" and nomos (νόμος "law" is the scientific study In physics the term dynamics customarily refers to the time evolution of physical processes Physics (Greek Physis - φύσις in everyday terms is the Science of Matter and its motion. Astrology (from Greek grc ἄστρον astron, "constellation star" and grc -λογία -logia) is a group of Systems He also invented Napier's bones, a multiplication tool using a set of numbered rods. Napier's bones is an Abacus created by John Napier for Calculation of products and quotients of numbers that was based on Arab mathematics and

Theology

Napier used some of his mathematical talents for theology, as he used the Book of Revelation to predict the Apocalypse, in A Plaine Discovery of the Whole Revelation of St. Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective The Book of Revelation, also called Revelation to John, Apocalypse of John ( pronounced, from the Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰωάννου John, which he regarded as his most important work. 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. Necromancy ( Greek νεκρομαντία nekromantía) is a form of Divination in which the practitioner seeks to summon "operative spirits"

Astrology and the Occult

John Napier
John Napier

In addition to his mathematical and religious interests, Napier was commonly believed to be a magician, and is thought to have dabbled in alchemy and necromancy. Astrology (from Greek grc ἄστρον astron, "constellation star" and grc -λογία -logia) is a group of Systems The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus (clandestine hidden secret referring to "knowledge of the hidden" It was said that he would travel about with a black spider in a small box, and that his black rooster was his familiar spirit. In Early modern English Superstition, a familiar spirit, Imp, or familiar (from Middle English familiar, related to family [1] [2]

Napier was able to use his black rooster to tell which of his servants had been stealing from his home. A rooster (also called a cock or chanticleer) is a male Chicken ( Gallus gallus) the female being called a Hen. A domestic worker, domestic, servingman, servingwoman, or servant is one who works and often also lives within the employer's household 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 soot 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. [3]

Another occasion which may have contributed to his reputation as a sorcerer was one involving a neighbor, whose pigeons were found to be eating Napier's grain. Napier warned his neighbor that he intended to keep any of the pigeons that he found on his property. The next day, it is said, Napier was witnessed scooping up the passive pigeons and putting them in a sack. In fact, he had sown peas soaked in brandy, which the pigeons then ate, making themselves too inebriated to fly. [4]

Also of note is that a contract still exists between John Napier and one Robert Logan of Restalrig to search Fast Castle (by means of magic) for treasure allegedly hidden there, and wherein it is stated that Napier should

". . . do his utmost diligence to search and seek out, and by all craft and ingine to find out the same, or make it sure that no such thing has been there. "[5]

Eponyms

An alternative unit to the decibel used in electrical engineering, the neper, is named after John Napier, as is Napier University in Edinburgh. The decibel ( dB) is a logarithmic unit of measurement that expresses the magnitude of a physical quantity (usually power or intensity relative to Electrical engineering, sometimes referred to as electrical and electronic engineering, is a field of Engineering that deals with the study and application of For Neper as a mythological god see Neper (mythology, for the lunar crater named Neper see Neper (crater, and for the Scottish mathematician phycisist and Napier University is a University in Edinburgh, Scotland. History Napier University was opened as Napier Technical College

Neper crater, on the Moon, is also named after him,[1] as was a 1992 asteroid, 7096 Napier. Neper is an old lunar Impact crater located near the eastern limb of the Moon. Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) Asteroids, sometimes called Minor planets or planetoids', are bodies—primarily of the inner Solar System —that are smaller than planets but 7096 Napier is a Mars-crossing Asteroid named after John Napier, the Scottish mathematician

List of works

See also

Notes

  1. ^ http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=523542005 Scotsman article about John Napier
  2. ^ http://heritage.scotsman.com/myths.cfm?id=41962005 Scotsman article specifically about Napier's interest in the occult
  3. ^ http://www.johnnapier.com/john_napier_and_the_devil.htm John Napier and the Devil
  4. ^ http://www.twinfield.net/teachers/buret/documents/biographies/Napier.pdf A Biography of John Napier
  5. ^ http://www.siol-nan-gaidheal.com/manuscripts/3/LXXV-3.htm Scans of the original charter and a later typed translation

References

Persondata
NAMENapier, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTIONScottish mathematician, physicist, astronomer/astrologer and 8th Laird of Merchistoun
DATE OF BIRTH1550
PLACE OF BIRTHMerchiston Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland
DATE OF DEATH4 April 1617
PLACE OF DEATH
Merchiston Castle or Merchiston Tower was probably built by Alexander Napier the second Laird of Merchiston around 1454 Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Events 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I.
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