John Napier’s Mathematical Contributions

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In late 1550, John Napier was born to Sir Archibald Napier and Janet Bothwell at Merchiston Tower in Edinburgh, Scotland. As John grew up in Merchiston Castle, he was in the constant presence of royalty, as his parents were both part of royalty. His father was Sir Archibald Napier of Merchiston Castle and his mother was Janet Bothwell whom was the daughter of a very influential politician and judge named Francis Bothwell, Lord of Session. Janet Bothwell was also the sister to Adam Bothwell, whom later became the Bishop of Orkney. So with being surrounded with this vast sea of nobility, John Napier did not start his schooling until the age of thirteen, which during this time was customary during this time period.
However, John did not stay in school very long after turning thirteen. It is said that he dropped out of school and starting traveling abroad in order to further his education. It is not known to us what really happened during this time, who he may have studied with, what he may have studied, or where he may have studied. All that we do know it that in December of 1560 John Napier’s uncle, Adam Bothwell sent Sir Archibald Napier a letter. The known letter reads as follows “I pray you, sir, to send John to the schools either to France or Flanders, for he can learn no good at home.” It is thought that this letter is the reason that John dropped out of school, and studied abroad, and why not much is to tell us of John’s experiences during this time.
Even though John Napier drops off of the historical map for a while, he resurfaces in Scotland in 1571 at the age of 21. A few years later, in 1574, John purchases a castle in Gartness, Scotland. However, upon the death of his farther, John and his family move into...

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...rm, there are two basic parts, there is the base and the exponent. The base is the number that you will multiply by and the exponent tell you how many times to multiply it. In the case of the example to the right, the base is eight and the exponent is two. This means we will multiply eight by itself twice (8*8 = 82).

Works Cited

Exponent. (2013, June 12). Math Is Fun. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from http://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/exponent.html
JOC/EFR. (1998). John Napier. Napier Summary. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Mathematicians/Napier.html
John Napier. (2002, December 23). John Napier. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from http://www.johnnapier.com/
O'Connor, J., & Robertson, E. (1998). John Napier. Napier Biography. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Napier.html

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