Mercator series
Serie de Mercator
- Date
- c. 1668 · confidence low
- Place
- London, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Nicholas Mercator
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What was discovered
Taylor series of the natural logarithm, ln(1+x) = x − x²/2 + x³/3 − …, published by mathematician Nicholas Mercator (not to be confused with cartographer Gerardus Mercator).
What it led to
- One of the first series expansions of a transcendental function
- Anticipation of the general Taylor series expansion
- Use in the numerical calculation of logarithms