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John Napier (1550-1617) was a Scottish mathematician and devout Christian who invented the [[logarithm]] in order to simplify calculations, and express and manipulate large numbers. He also invented an early antecedent of the slide rule known as "Napier's bones."
John Napier (1550-1617) was a Scottish mathematician and devout Christian who invented the [[logarithm]] in order to simplify calculations, and express and manipulate large numbers. He also invented an early antecedent of the slide rule known as "Napier's bones."
Napier considered mathematics only a hobby, but considered Theology his career. In 1593 he published a work called "A Plaine Discovery of the Whole Revelation of St. John", in which he claimed he had calculated from the book of Revelations that the end of the world would come in 1688 or 1700 and that Pope Clement VIII was the Antichrist.<ref>http://www.johnnapier.com/john_napier_and_the_devil.htm</ref>