natural Logs

[JohnNichols]

I often wonder in  my deep dark dank hole of an office, why the original writers of Fortran used log and log10 instead of ln and log10 .  

I would seem more sensible for the poor average user, such as myself.  

page 41 of Kaplan and Lewis, explains some by saying in their 1971 edition, which sits at my bedside, that olden folk used log but modern folk used ln.  

[andrew_4619]

Well more importantly why are they called Napierian logarithms given Napier didn't invent them.  Gregoire de Saint-Vincent and Alphonse Antonio de Sarasa  are the guys....

[JohnNichols]

Given the birth dates and the numerous articles on Napier, I would think that it is more likely Napier on the balance of probabilities. 

[andrew_4619]

A vital piece of data is missing from that chart. The date people coined the 'Napierian' tag and indeed the probabilistic assumption method only has validity in the absence of hard facts.