Historical Overview of Logarithms and Implications for Teaching

Abstract

Historically, the invention and development of logarithms and logarithmic functions are so important that the power of modern calculations are rooted in these efforts. It is known that the development of logarithms was not quick and at least took half a century. The early attempts included a desire to advance multiplications and divisions with the help of tables that could be used once for all. This desire is no longer valid since computers and calculators can easily do very long and complex calculations. Thus, there needs to be a change in the objectives and the content of teaching logarithms so that the focus is on the conceptual part rather than the computational part. The benefits of using history in teaching mathematics have long been discussed. However, providing a clear road map for the use of available historical resources in teaching mathematics is rather rare. Investigating the historical development of mathematical concepts can provide many implications for teaching mathematics. Although this conceptual paper provides a very brief historical overview of the development of logarithms, an essential concept in advance mathematics, and a draft outline of a teaching sequence for teaching logarithms in high school classrooms it provides a clear introductory road map for teaching logarithms based on an history-integrated approach.