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A meeting in legacy....

John Rozean
Aug 4, 2016
2 min read

Around the year of 1610, some of Brigg’s letters to other academics at the time showed that Briggs was very interested in Astronomy, specially studying the elliptical paths of astronomical objects (O'Connor & Robertson, 1999), so from what we have already discussed, he was one of the scientist interested in methods that could simplify the calculations of large numbers. In 1614, Briggs read Napier’s work on logarithms. He referred to them as “the noble invention of logarithms” (O'Connor & Robertson, 1999). He was so impressed with the concept that he journeyed on two occasions from London to Edenborough to meet with Napier. This was a very long journey of over four days by coach at the time. In any event, these meetings that took place in 1615 and 1615 evidently laid the ground work for Briggs’ common logarithms (O'Connor & Robertson, 1999). Some accounts of the Napier-Briggs visit put the two geniuses into a context that virtually every human will perhaps experience at some point in their life – in the context of their legacy, and the sum of our lives. On one hand we consider Napier, an aging inventor who would die a few years after the meeting and who due to “ill-health” would no longer be able to “undertake the construction of new tables” – a toil that took over a very significant chunk of his life (O'Connor & Robertson, 1999). Perhaps Napier may have foreseen that Briggs would be instrumental in establishing his legacy in years to come. Perhaps like a father awaiting the return of his long lost son, Napier is said to have been anticipating Briggs’ arrival on a certain day. It is said that Napier began to get “doubtful” that Briggs would actually make the long journey. “Mr. Briggs will not now come,” a disappointed Napier is quoted as saying. It is rumored that at the exact time of this exclamation, Briggs would arrive. On the other hand, one can view Briggs as a burgeoning academic, at the time, who admired Napier’s logarithmic invention and saw that its genius could be used to expand the conceptions of astronomy and mathematics for years to come. It is not a hard conclusion to make that these two men may have seen each other as a means of securing each other’s legacy in the academic fields of astronomy and mathematics in years to follow. In “the lord’s chamber,” it is said that the initial meeting was filled with nearly fifteen minutes of silence, due to “each beholding with admiration, before one word was spoke.” Breaking the silence, Briggs is quoted as say during this meeting; “My lord, I have undertaken this long journey purposely to see your person, and to know by what engine of wit or ingenuity you came first to think of this most excellent help in astronomy” (Maor, 1994).

Around the year of 1610, some of Henry Brigg’s letters to other academics at the time showed that Briggs was very interested in Astronomy, specially studying the elliptical paths of astronomical objects (O'Connor & Robertson, 1999), so from what we have already discussed, he was one of the scientist interested in methods that could simplify the calculations of large numbers. In 1614, Briggs read John Napier’s work on logarithms. He referred to them as “the noble invention of logarithms” (O'Connor & Robertson, 1999). He was so impressed with the concept that he journeyed on two occasions from London to Edenborough to meet with Napier. This was a very long journey of over four days by coach at the time. In any event, these meetings that took place in 1615 and 1615 evidently laid the ground work for Briggs’ common logarithms (O'Connor & Robertson, 1999). Some accounts of the Napier-Briggs visit put the two geniuses into a context that virtually every human will perhaps experience at some point in their life – in the context of their legacy, and the sum of our lives.

On one hand we consider Napier, an aging inventor who would die a few years after the meeting and who due to “ill-health” would no longer be able to “undertake the construction of new tables” – a toil that took over a very significant chunk of his life (O'Connor & Robertson, 1999). Perhaps Napier may have foreseen that Briggs would be instrumental in establishing his legacy in years to come. Perhaps like a father awaiting the return of his long lost son, Napier is said to have been anticipating Briggs’ arrival on a certain day. It is said that Napier began to get “doubtful” that Briggs would actually make the long journey. “Mr. Briggs will not now come,” a disappointed Napier is quoted as saying. It is rumored that at the exact time of this exclamation, Briggs would arrive.

On the other hand, one can view Briggs as a burgeoning academic, at the time, who admired Napier’s logarithmic invention and saw that its genius could be used to expand the conceptions of astronomy and mathematics for years to come. It is not a hard conclusion to make that these two men may have seen each other as a means of securing each other’s legacy in the academic fields of astronomy and mathematics in years to follow. In “the lord’s chamber,” it is said that the initial meeting was filled with nearly fifteen minutes of silence, due to “each beholding with admiration, before one word was spoke.” Breaking the silence, Briggs is quoted as say during this meeting; “My lord, I have undertaken this long journey purposely to see your person, and to know by what engine of wit or ingenuity you came first to think of this most excellent help in astronomy” (Maor, 1994).