"It is no exaggeration to say that the invention of logarithms "by shortening the labours doubled the life of the astronomer." Logarithms were invented by John Napier, Baron of Merchiston, in Scotland. It is one of the greatest curiosities of the history of science that Napier constructed logarithms before exponents were used. To be sure, Stifel and Stevin made some attempts to denote powers by indices, but this notation was not generally known,—not even to Harriot, whose algebra appeared long after Napier's death. That logarithms flow naturally from the exponential symbol was not observed until much later. It was Euler who first considered logarithms as being indices of powers. What then was Napier's line of thought?"