-
Period: 1400 to
Mathematicians attempt to create better ways of computing
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries mathematicians worked to find more powerful methods of computing and better notations for representing concepts. -
John Napier
Napier published his discovery with the purpose of multiplying quantities that were known as sines at the time. -
Napier's Bones
Napier develops a calculating tools, sticks that are based off of the lattice method of multiplication. -
Joost Burgi
The Swedish mathematician created the first tables relating arithmetic and geometric sequences. -
Development of the slide rule
William Oughtred places two logarithmic scales together, allowing him to multiply and divide directly. He is credited with the invention of the slide rule. -
Henry Briggs
Henry Briggs, assistant to Napier, published a table of logarithms calculated to 14 decimal places for 30,000 values [1-20,000 and 90,000 to 100,000]. -
Adriaan Vlacq
Published a table for 1-100,000 to ten decimal places.