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In the early 17th century, both Jost Bürgi and John Napier dared to invent a logarithm table whose construction required tens of thousands of computing steps. These tables reduced computing effort for multiplication and division by an order of magnitude. Indeed, their invention launched a computing revolution that continues to this day. The book, which is the color edition of the original black and white edition published in 2020, tells the story of Bürgi's and Napier's work, and how Henry Briggs built on Napier's idea, creating a table of logarithms that was easier to use. John Napier and Henry Briggs described their methods in detail; distribution of their results was widespread. In contrast, Jost Bürgi did not leave detailed records of his work. Just a few copies of his table and terse handwritten instructions for its use have survived. To fill this gap, the book reconstructs Bürgi's thinking leading up to his table. The reader looks over his shoulder, so to speak, and learns how Bürgi came upon the idea, how he decided on the specific format of the table, and how his instructions should be interpreted. And so the reader experiences the magic of the invention of logarithms. The final chapters examine the question "Who invented logarithms?". For centuries, few people were aware of Bürgi's work; John Napier was considered to be the sole inventor. This changed at the middle of the 19th century when Jost Bürgi's work became more widely known. Since then there has been extensive debate whether Bürgi should be considered an independent co-inventor. Careful parsing of the history of logarithm going back to Archimedes of antiquity then reveals that, without doubt, John Napier and Jost Bürgi are independent co-inventors of logarithms.

Im frühen 17. Jahrhundert entwickelten Jost Bürgi und John Napier Logarithmentafeln - ein damals äußerst mühsames Unterfangen, das Zehntausende von Rechenschritten erforderte. Einmal erstellt, reduzierten die Tafeln den Rechenaufwand für Multiplikation und Division um eine Größenordnung. In der Tat lösten die Tafeln eine Revolution im Rechnen aus. Jost Bürgi hinterließ keine detaillierten Aufzeichnungen über seine Arbeit. Nur wenige Kopien seiner Tafel und knappe Anweisungen zu ihrer Verwendung sind erhalten geblieben. Dieses Buch rekonstruiert Bürgis Gedankengänge, schaut ihm gleichsam über die Schulter, wie er seine Tafel und die Regeln für ihre Benutzung entwickelt. Danach erzählt es die Geschichte von John Napiers Arbeit, und wie Henry Briggs Napiers Idee abänderte und so die moderne Logarithmentafel schuf. Der letzte Teil des Buches widmet sich der Frage "Wer hat nun eigentlich den Logarithmus erfunden, Bürgi oder Napier?" Napier prägte den Begriff "Logarithmus". Bürgis etwas früher entwickelte Tafel war jedoch ebenso effektiv wie die von Napier. Der Schluss ist, dass Bürgi und Napier Co-Erfinder des Logarithmus sind. This book is also available in English: The Daring Invention of Logarithm Tables.

In 1921, Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) published a landmark book in philosophy: the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, usually called just the Tractatus. It puts forth a profound theory-now called the picture theory-about the meaning of language. Simply put, the Tractatus aims to answer the question "What can be expressed by language?" It is an understatement to say that the Tractatus is difficult to read and understand. Accordingly, numerous introductory books and commentaries have been written. These texts are important contributions in philosophy but also are quite complex, even when described as being introductory. In contrast, this book brings out the fundamental ideas of the Tractatus in simple, everyday language, with all concepts and conclusions illustrated by numerous examples taken from the natural sciences. This book is also available in German: Hülster Einführung in Wittgensteins Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.

Modern brain science has produced extraordinary insight into the functioning of the human brain. This book combines some of these results with the idea of subconscious and conscious models. It then explores how these models often generate magic, sometimes error, and occasionally terror. Subconscious models help us understand how psychotherapy changes minds, why fatigue is an emotion, how breathing affects our well-being, and how we may give mind and body a rest. Conscious models explain some instances of deception in medicine, economics, politics, and religion. Subconscious and conscious models together allow us to identify nonsensical questions. The age-old question "Do we have free will?" is one such case. Hence, this question cannot be answered. This book offers a kaleidoscope of topics and cases. More ideas about subconscious and conscious models and their effects will surely occur to you as you read.