​​Logarithms -- Logarithms helped us perform tedious calcula | Astro Wonders

​​Logarithms --

Logarithms helped us perform tedious calculations before there were calculators. When we talk about tiny and gigantic things, we always use logarithms such as; our sensitivity to light, earthquake magnitudes, noise levels in decibels, acidity (pH) money growing with a fixed interest rate, bacteria growing in a petri dish, radioactive decay.

History:- The method of logarithms was publicly propounded by #JohnNapier in 1614, in a book titled Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio (Description of the Wonderful Rule of Logarithms). Around 1730, #LeonhardEuler extended & connected logarithms to the exponential function.

Modern definition & explanation:- Logarithms are the inverses, or opposites, of exponential functions. A logarithm for a particular base tells us what power we need to raise that base to to get a number. For example, the base 10 logarithm of 1 is log(1) = 0, since 1 = 10^0; log(10) = 1, since 10 = 10^1; and log(100) = 2, since 100 = 10^2 (look the second equation in the graphic)

The first equation in the graphic, log(ab) = log(a) + log(b), shows one of the most useful applications of logarithms: they turn multiplication into addition.