A very good "lookback" at 17th Century maths can be found on the following website. This includes Edmonton-born Brook Taylor's treatise: "Methodus Incrementorum Directa & Inversa". Taylor was famed for the Taylor series and Taylor's theorem. John Napier's treatise on logarithms is also presented in translated form: "Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio".
Latin is one of the "hazards" of reading 17th Century maths. As a taster, Mirifici (above) is the plural of Mirificus (wonderful, miraculous). Canonis is the genitive of canon (referring to a catalog of sacred writings). Descriptio means simply description.
As well as discovering logarithms, John Napier was also known for inventing the so-called "Napiers Bones" which was a calculating device for multiples and quotients. It was based on lattice multiplication.
Latin is one of the "hazards" of reading 17th Century maths. As a taster, Mirifici (above) is the plural of Mirificus (wonderful, miraculous). Canonis is the genitive of canon (referring to a catalog of sacred writings). Descriptio means simply description.
As well as discovering logarithms, John Napier was also known for inventing the so-called "Napiers Bones" which was a calculating device for multiples and quotients. It was based on lattice multiplication.
No comments:
Post a Comment