Editing John Napier (section)

==Life==
Napier's father was [[Archibald Napier (landowner)|Sir Archibald Napier]] of Merchiston Castle, and his mother was Janet Bothwell, daughter of the politician and judge [[Francis Bothwell]],<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Napier, John |volume=19 |pages=171—175}}</ref> and a sister of [[Adam Bothwell]] who became the [[Bishop of Orkney]]. Archibald Napier was 16 years old when John Napier was born.<ref name=EB1911/>
[[File:Merchiston castle.jpg|thumb|Merchiston Castle from an 1834 woodcut]]
There are no records of Napier's early learning, but many believe that he was privately tutored during early childhood. At age 13, he was enrolled in [[St Salvator's College, St Andrews]]. Near the time of his matriculation the quality of the education provided by the university was poor, owing in part to the Reformation's causing strife between those of the old faith and the growing numbers of Protestants. There are no records showing that John Napier completed his education at St Andrews.<ref name=":0" /> It is believed he left Scotland to further his education in mainland Europe, following the advice given by his uncle Adam Bothwell in a letter written to John Napier's father on 5 December 1560, saying, "I pray you, sir, to send John to the schools either to [[France]] or [[Flanders]], for he can learn no good at home".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Memoirs of John Napier of Merchiston : his lineage, life, and times, with a history of the invention of logarithms|last=Napier, Mark, 1798-1879.|date=1834|publisher=W. Blackwood|pages=67|oclc=5167671}}</ref> It is not known which university Napier attended in Europe, but when he returned to Scotland in 1571 he was fluent in Greek, a language that was not commonly taught in European universities at the time. There are also no records showing his enrollment in the premier universities in Paris or Geneva during this time.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=John Napier : life, logarithms, and legacy|last=Havil, Julian, 1952-|isbn=9781400852185|location=Princeton|pages=13–17|oclc=889552514|date = 5 October 2014}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Citation|last1=Rice|first1=Brian|title=John Napier|date=2017|work=The Life and Works of John Napier|pages=12|publisher=Springer International Publishing|isbn=9783319532813|last2=González-Velasco|first2=Enrique|last3=Corrigan|first3=Alexander|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-53282-0_1}}</ref>

In 1571, Napier, aged 21, returned to Scotland, and bought a castle at [[Gartness, Stirling|Gartness]] in 1574. On the death of his father in 1608, Napier and his family moved into [[Merchiston Castle]] in Edinburgh, where he resided the remainder of his life. He had a property within Edinburgh city as well on Borthwick's Close off the [[Royal Mile]].<ref>Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh vol.II p. 242.</ref>

[[Image:St Cuthbert Napier.jpg|thumb|upright|Memorial to John Napier in [[St Cuthbert's Church, Edinburgh]]]]
On 7 June 1596 Napier wrote a paper ''Secret inventions, profitable and necessary in these days for defence of this island''. He describes two kinds of [[Burning glass|burning mirror]] for use against ships at a distance, a special kind of artillery shot, and a musket-proof metal chariot.<ref>[[Thomas Birch]], ''Memoirs of Thomas Birch'', vol. 2 (London, 1754), pp. 28-9.</ref>

Napier died from the effects of [[gout]] at home at [[Merchiston Castle]] at the age of 67. He was buried in the [[kirkyard]] of [[High Kirk of St Giles|St Giles]] in Edinburgh. Following the loss of the kirkyard of St Giles to build [[Parliament House, Edinburgh|Parliament House]], his remains were transferred to an underground vault on the north side of [[St Cuthbert's Parish Church]] at the west side of Edinburgh.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> There is also a wall monument to Napier at St Cuthbert's.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Many mathematicians at the time were acutely aware of the issues of computation and were dedicated to relieving practitioners of the calculation burden. Napier was famous for his devices to assist with these issues of computation. He invented a well-known mathematical artefact, the ingenious numbering rods more quaintly known as "Napier's bones",<ref name="NapiersBones">{{cite journal |last1=Caulfield |first1=Michael J. |title=John Napier: His Life, His Logs, and His Bones - Introduction |journal=Convergence |date=July 2010 |url=https://www.maa.org/press/periodicals/convergence/john-napier-his-life-his-logs-and-his-bones-introduction |access-date=10 March 2019 |publisher=Mathematical Association of America |location=Washington, D.C. |language=en |archive-date=2 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502083708/https://www.maa.org/press/periodicals/convergence/john-napier-his-life-his-logs-and-his-bones-introduction |url-status=live }}</ref> that offered mechanical means for facilitating computation.

In addition, Napier recognized the potential of the recent developments in mathematics, particularly those of [[prosthaphaeresis]], decimal fractions, and symbolic index arithmetic, to tackle the issue of reducing computation. He appreciated that, for the most part, practitioners who had laborious computations generally did them in the context of trigonometry. Therefore, as well as developing the logarithmic relation, Napier set it in a trigonometric context so it would be even more relevant.