Logarithm
Logarithm
!Plots of logarithm functions, with three commonly used bases. The special points logb b = 1 are indicated by dotted lines, and all curves intersect in logb 1 = 0.
Logarithm
The logarithm base 10 is called the decimal or common logarithm and is commonly used in science and engineering. The natural logarithm has the number e ≈ 2.718) as its base; its use is widespread in mathematics and physics because of its very simple derivative. The binary logarithm uses base 2 and is widely used in computer science, information theory, music theory, and photography. When the base is unambiguous from the context or irrelevant it is often omitted, and the logarithm is written log x.
Logarithm
Logarithms were introduced by John Napier in 1614 as a means of simplifying calculations. They were rapidly adopted by navigators, scientists, engineers, surveyors, and others to perform high-accuracy computations more easily. Using logarithm tables, tedious multi-digit multiplication steps can be replaced by table look-ups and simpler addition. This is possible because the logarithm of a product) is the sum of the logarithms of the factors:
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