The invention of tabular record keeping can be traced back to third-millennium BCE Mesopotamia, where tablets using columns and rows were used to account for the transfer of various goods and livestock. The classic tables of antiquity could be found in the astronomer Ptolemy's Almagest, which he republished and distributed under the name Handy Tables. Tables of mathematical and empirical values were helpful for organizing observations and calculations, and their clear-cut presentation made them also ideal devices for sharing knowledge.
In early modern Europe, mathematical tables became important resources for simplifying otherwise laborious calculations. John Napier is renowned for his discovery of the method of logarithms, which he published as a treatise in 1614 (Image 1).
Logarithms allowed large values to be expressed as a standard base raised to a power, making them easier to write down and then look up. Furthermore, they reduced multiplication and division to simpler addition and subtraction. This made the possession of accurate logarithm tables essential.
Entering the age of industry
Henry Briggs (1561-1630), the first professor of geometry at Gresham College in London, was enamoured with Napier's system and worked to recalculate and distribute his logarithm tables widely. This was the beginning of the long tradition of checking calculations and republishing tables, often as pocket-sized 'ready reckoners', for commercial transactions - a practice that became more common during industrialisation.
However, accuracy was always a problem with tables calculated by human 'computers', as error could be introduced during calculation, copying, or typesetting. It was for this reason that this era also saw the first attempts to design and build machines capable of computing and printing tables mechanically.