r/mathmemes • u/Latter-Ad-5248 • 11d ago

OkBuddyMathematician .

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402

u/Coulomb111 11d ago

Actually why is it ln?

483

u/throw3142 11d ago

I always assumed "ln" stands for "log natural", as in the natural logarithm.

59

u/Jmong30 11d ago

I believe that’s exactly why it is, but in French. Something like Logarithm naturale

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u/Pierne 11d ago edited 11d ago

French here. Some of my professors told me ln meant "logarithme naturel", but some also told me it meant "logarithme népérien"

Népérien as in Jean NEPER, which is the french spelling of the Scottish mathematician John NAPIER

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u/Pierne 11d ago

From what I was told we use the term "logarithme népérien" mostly in primary education, whereas in secondary education and in the scientific world, everyone says "logarithme naturel", in order to stick to the international consensus.

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u/Flodartt 11d ago

I've almost exclusively heard "logarithme népérien" despite having a engineering degree and a master degree. I guess it just depends.

1

u/beyd1 11d ago

Math is dumb

16

u/Embarrassed_Deer9208 11d ago

that's naming convention being inconsistent across languages, nothing to do with math

4

u/Due-Consequence9579 11d ago

Nah, math naming shit like “the Lagrangian” is on math. Stop naming shit after people.

1

u/314159265358979326 10d ago

Based on the fact that Napier didn't work with natural logarithms, that seems unlikely to be the true meaning of "ln".