Logarithmancy

Logarithmancy is the art and practice of divination through logarithms or logarithm table.

Etymology

Derived from the English logarith(m) and Greek manteia ('prophecy')

History

Napier's Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis descriptio was published in 1614. The importance of Napier's idea was quickly recognized and many other mathematicians improved on Napier's work and published further tables, so that by 1628 the logarithms for all the natural numbers up to 100,000 had been computed. Tables of logarithms are, naturally, amenable to calculation, and are reminiscent of other tables used in the 17th century for divinatory purposes, such as those for astrological reckoning, and geomancy.

SEE ALSO:

• Sortileges
• Augury
• Divinations by Observation
• Divinations

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