the.com/logarithmic
the math that turns brutal multiplication into gentle addition, and disasters into manageable numbers.
means a scale or growth pattern where each step represents a multiplication, not an addition, so huge ranges compress into small, readable numbers.
from coined by john napier in 1614 from greek logos (ratio) and arithmos (number), built to spare astronomers decades of hand multiplication.
napier's motivewanted to kill tedious astronomical arithmetic, not teach algebra
slide rulesran on logarithms until pocket calculators killed them in the 1970s
human perceptionears and eyes judge loudness and brightness logarithmically, not linearly
richter scalea magnitude 7 quake is 10 times stronger than a 6, not one bit
for instance
richter scale — each whole number jump means 10x more ground shaking, 1935
decibel scale — a jet engine at 140db is a trillion times louder than a whisper at 20db
ph scale — battery acid at ph 1 is a million times more acidic than milk at ph 6.5
stellar magnitude — astronomers still rank star brightness on a scale hipparchus started in 150 bc