1561-1630

English mathematician best known for his work in refining and popularizing John Napier's (1550-1617) logarithms. Briggs's wide-ranging talents led to him teaching medicine and mathematics. He was a keen astronomer, and became interested in logarithms as a means of making astronomical calculations easier. His joint work with Napier on the development of logarithms resulted in the form we still use today. He became the first professor of geometry at Gresham College, later going on to teach at Oxford.