View Single Post
  #1  
Old February 20th 10, 12:21 AM posted to sci.math,sci.physics,sci.astro
Andrew Usher
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 586
Default Base 10 logarithms are evil

The very first tables of logarithms were according to the natural base
e (essentially). Base 10 was only adopted because it is somewhat more
easy for calculation with the decimal system. Now that technology was
obliviated the need to use log table for calculating, there is no
further reason to use base 10 logarithms at all.

Yet, many fields of science continue to do so. Sometimes this creates
confusion, as in the fact that optical depths may be measured either
way, and it is not always specified which. There is no benefit to
thinking in base 10, conceptually, and there is the serious
disadvantages of always having to insert factors of log 10.

Using base 10 logs is another example (along with the metric system)
of ignorant decimal-philia.

Andrew Usher