John Napier
1550 – 1617 · aged 67
Scottish mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (1550–1617)
- Born
- 1550 · Merchiston Tower
- Died
- 4 Apr 1617 · Edinburgh
Life timeline
Their life from birth to death. On the timeline, world events of the time are shown faintly.
- 1550BornBorn in Merchiston Tower
- 4 Apr 1617DiedDied in Edinburgh
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Biography
John Napier of Merchiston ( NAY-pee-ər; Latinized as Ioannes Neper; 1 February 1550 – 4 April 1617), nicknamed Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist and astronomer. He was the 8th Laird of Merchiston. Napier is best known as the discoverer of logarithms. He also invented the Napier's bones calculating device and popularised the use of the decimal point in arithmetic.
Napier's birthplace, Merchiston Tower in Edinburgh, is now part of the facilities of Edinburgh Napier University. There is a memorial to him at St Cuthbert's Parish Church at the west end of Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh.
Text from the Wikipedia article John Napier, CC BY-SA 4.0
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