Briggs, Henry

Briggs, Henry, 1561–1630, English mathematician. He was the first professor of geometry at Gresham College, London (1596–1619), and Savilian professor of astronomy at Oxford (from 1619). After publication of Napier's work on logarithms in 1614, Briggs suggested that the logarithms be tabulated to the base 10, and Napier agreed to the alteration. Briggs wrote Arithmetica logarithmica (1624), a work containing logarithmic tables for 30,000 natural numbers to 14 places. His logarithms are known today as common logarithms.