Born: 1550 Merchiston Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland Died: April 4, 1617 Philosopher and Mathematician Inventor of Logarithms and the Decimal Point

There is no record, but letters from his uncle, the bishop of Orkney, indicate he may have been home schooled. Entered St. Andrews University at the age of 13 in 1563 There is no record of Napier receiving a degree from the university. After he left St. Andrews, Napier attended Cambridge University. He also studied abroad in Paris. From , when he returned to Scotland, there is no record of him.

In 1571, he returned to Scotland for his father’s second marriage. John Napier married Elizabeth Sterling in They had two children before her death in After Elizabeth’s death, John married Agnes Chisolm, with whom he had five daughters and five sons. During his marriage to Elizabeth, John began plans for a castle estate at Gartness. Napier’s castle was completed in During his time at the castle, he began inventing. He approached agriculture in a scientific way.

Mirifici Logarithmorum Canosis Descriptio consisted of 127 pages, 90 of which were tables, and the other 37 being explanations of work. These works were used to oversee the future of astronomy, dynamics and physics.

Napier Bones They are used to divide, multiply, and take square roots. The y are called “Bones” because they are made of ivory and look like bones. These are the earliest known calculatin g machines.

Logarithms Napier’s logarithms do not really have a base, unlike the logarithms used today. Napier decided that tables should be constructe d to 10, and log 1=0 He is best known for his invention of the Logarithm s.

Napier University was originally founded as “Napier Technical College,” taking its name from John Napier. The Merchiston campus is built around the Merchiston Castle, the family home of John Napier. Napier is a multi- campus university with three main sites located in Edinburgh. Sites are Merchiston, Craighouse and Craiglockhart.

In His Own Words: On logarithms: Seeing there is nothing ( right well-loved Students of the Mathematics) that is so troublesome to mathematical practice, nor that doth more molest and hinder calculators, then the multiplications, divisions, and square and cubical extractions of great numbers, which besides the tedious expense of time are for the most part subject to many slippery errors, I began therefore to consider in my mind by what certain and ready art I might remove those hindrances. -John Napier Mirifici Logarithmorum Canosis Descriptio (1614)