The history and development of logarithms

This paper outlines the evolution of the logarithm from the days of Archimedes to the logarithm now used in modern mathematics. Each type of logarithm developed had its particular usefulness. The Archimedean logarithm helped astronomers by drastically shortening the time it took to multiply large nu...

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Main Author: Bennett, Meaghan Whitley
Format: Others
Language:English
Published: 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2152/ETD-UT-2009-08-195
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spelling ndltd-UTEXAS-oai-repositories.lib.utexas.edu-2152-ETD-UT-2009-08-1952015-09-20T16:53:58ZThe history and development of logarithmsBennett, Meaghan Whitleynatural logarithmlogarithmThis paper outlines the evolution of the logarithm from the days of Archimedes to the logarithm now used in modern mathematics. Each type of logarithm developed had its particular usefulness. The Archimedean logarithm helped astronomers by drastically shortening the time it took to multiply large numbers, while Napier’s logarithm could be used as a tool to solve velocity problems. With the discovery of the number e, the natural logarithm was developed. Due to the frequent use of e, many of the properties of logarithms were defined to work nicely for the natural logarithm to make calculations easier. This paper will explain the proofs and connections of such properties in a way that could be presented in a calculus class.text2010-06-04T14:46:24Z2010-06-04T14:46:24Z2009-082010-06-04T14:46:24ZAugust 2009thesisapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/2152/ETD-UT-2009-08-195engCopyright is held by the author. Presentation of this material on the Libraries' web site by University Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin was made possible under a limited license grant from the author who has retained all copyrights in the works.
collection NDLTD
language English
format Others
sources NDLTD
topic natural logarithm
logarithm
spellingShingle natural logarithm
logarithm
Bennett, Meaghan Whitley
The history and development of logarithms
description This paper outlines the evolution of the logarithm from the days of Archimedes to the logarithm now used in modern mathematics. Each type of logarithm developed had its particular usefulness. The Archimedean logarithm helped astronomers by drastically shortening the time it took to multiply large numbers, while Napier’s logarithm could be used as a tool to solve velocity problems. With the discovery of the number e, the natural logarithm was developed. Due to the frequent use of e, many of the properties of logarithms were defined to work nicely for the natural logarithm to make calculations easier. This paper will explain the proofs and connections of such properties in a way that could be presented in a calculus class. === text
author Bennett, Meaghan Whitley
author_facet Bennett, Meaghan Whitley
author_sort Bennett, Meaghan Whitley
title The history and development of logarithms
title_short The history and development of logarithms
title_full The history and development of logarithms
title_fullStr The history and development of logarithms
title_full_unstemmed The history and development of logarithms
title_sort history and development of logarithms
publishDate 2010
url http://hdl.handle.net/2152/ETD-UT-2009-08-195
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