CONCLUSION

The logarithm of a number is the exponent to which another fixed value, the base, must be
raised to produce that number. For example, the logarithm of 1000 to base 10 is 3, because
1000 is 10 to the power 3: 1000 = 101010 = 103. More generally, if x = by, then y is the
logarithm of x to base b, and is written y = logb(x), so log10(1000) = 3.

The logarithm to base b = 10 is called the common logarithm and has many applications in
science and engineering. The natural logarithm has the constant e ( 2.718) as its base; its use
is widespread in pure mathematics, especially calculus. The binary logarithm uses base b = 2
and is prominent in computer science.

When it was first introduced, logarithms represented at that time in so many ways both what
was old and what was new. This relation looked back to reflect concerns of computation, but
looked forward to nascent notions about mathematical functions. Although logarithms were
primarily a tool for facilitating computation, they were but another of the crucial insights that
directed the attention of mathematical scholars towards more abstract organizing notions.

But one thing is very clear: the concept of logarithm as we understand it today as a function is
quite different in many respects from how it was originally conceived. But eventually,
through the work, consideration, and development of many mathematicians, the logarithm
became far more than a useful way to compute with large unwieldy numbers. It became a
mathematical relation and function in its own right.

In time, the logarithm evolved from a labour saving device to become one of the core
functions in mathematics. Today, it has been extended to negative and complex numbers and
it is vital in many modern branches of mathematics. It has an important role in group theory
and is key to calculus, with its straightforward derivatives and its appearance in the solutions
to various integrals.

Logarithms form the basis of the Richter scale and the measure of pH, and they characterize
the music intervals in the octave, to name but a few applications. Ironically, the logarithm still
serves as a labour saving device of sorts, but not for the benefit of human effort! It is often
used by computers to approximate certain operations that would be too costly, in terms of
computer power, to evaluate directly, particularly those of the form xn.

When French mathematician, Pierre-Simon Laplace noted that logarithms by shortening the
labours, doubled the life of an astronomer, he hardly exaggerated. Where previously
practitioners had been slowed down by long and tedious calculations required in their
disciplines, now that logarithms had been introduced, they literally had to spend only half as
much time on these necessary computations. Therefore, right from its inception, there has
never been any doubt as to the importance of the logarithmic relation. Furthermore, its
usefulness has persisted in different areas of mathematics right to the present day.