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The exponent by which a fixed number, the base, has to 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 = 10³ = 10 × 10 × 10. Logarithms were introduced by John Napier in the early 17th century as a means to simplify calculations. They were rapidly adopted by scientists and engineers to perform computations using slide rules and logarithm tables. These devices rely on the fact—important in its own right—that the logarithm of a product is the sum of the logarithms of the factors. Logarithmic scales reduce wide-ranging quantities to smaller scopes. For example, the decibel is a logarithmic unit quantifying sound pressure and voltage ratios. Logarithms describe musical intervals, measure the complexity of algorithms, and appear in formulas counting prime numbers. They also inform some models in psychophysics and can aid in forensic accounting. (more... ) Recently featured: California's 12th congressional district election, 1946 – Casino Royale – Edward Elgar Archive – By email – More featured articles...
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From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that Sir Christopher Wren ? ... that the First Battle of Newbury has been described as "both the longest battle of the English Civil War and the one that historians have found the greatest difficulty in describing"? ... that the Canadian Pacific rail line near Princeton, British Columbia ? ... that Marga T's novel Badai Pasti Berlalu sold roughly 24,000 copies—remarkable for an Indonesian novel in the 1970s—and spawned a critically acclaimed film, album and song? ... that professional cricketer George Nash was once dropped off every ball of an over bowled by the amateur Robert Ramsay? ... that Dan Savage indulged in the seven deadly sins during research for his book Skipping Towards Gomorrah? ... that the State Policy Network of conservative "free market" political think tanks in every U.S. state has been likened to a franchising arrangement? Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Ali Abdullah Saleh The erupts , forcing 3,500 people to evacuate. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh (pictured) travels to Saudi Arabia for treatment of an injury sustained during an attack on the presidential palace. In Li Na defeats Francesca Schiavone to win the French Open title in women's singles . Senior South Waziristan, Pakistan . Jack Kevorkian, a right-to-die activist and physician, dies at the age of 83. The discovery of Halicephalobus mephisto, the deepest-living land multicellular organism, is announced. Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
June 5: World Environment Day; Father's Day in Denmark 1257 – Kraków in Poland received city rights based on the Magdeburg law. 1305 – Raymond Bertrand de Got became Pope Clement V, succeeding Pope Benedict XI who died one year earlier. The Milton Berle Show , an appearance that generated many letters of protest. Jordanian and Syrian Air Forces on the ground. Tiananmen Square protests before being dragged aside. More anniversaries: June 4 – June 5 – June 6 List of historical anniversaries It is now June 5, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

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An animation showing the unfolding of a Dymaxion map, a projection of a world map onto the surface of a polyhedron (in this case, an icosahedron) and then flattened to form a two-dimensional map which retains most of the relative proportional integrity of the globe map. This type of map was invented by Buckminster Fuller and is one of several of his inventions to use the name Dymaxion.

Image: Chris Rywalt

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