In late 1550, John Napier was born to Sir Archibald Napier and Janet Bothwell at Merchiston Tower in Edinburgh, Scotland. When John grew up at Merchiston Castle, he was in the constant presence of royalty, as his parents were both royalty. Her father was Sir Archibald Napier of Merchiston Castle and her mother was Janet Bothwell, daughter of a very influential politician and judge named Francis Bothwell, Lord of Session. Janet Bothwell was also the sister of Adam Bothwell, who later became Bishop of Orkney. So, being surrounded by this vast sea of ​​nobility, John Napier did not begin his studies until he was thirteen years old, which was the custom at that time. However, John did not stay in school very long after he turned thirteen. It is said that he dropped out of school and began traveling abroad in order to continue his studies. We do not know what really happened during this time, who he may have studied with, what he may have studied, or where he may have studied. All we know is that in December 1560, John Napier's uncle Adam Bothwell sent a letter to Sir Archibald Napier. The known letter reads as follows: “I beg you, sir, to send John to schools either in France or in Flanders, because he cannot learn anything good at home. » This letter is believed to be the reason why John dropped out and studied abroad, and why there is not much to tell us about John's experiences during this period. Although John Napier disappeared from the historical map for a time, he resurfaced in Scotland in 1571 at the age of 21. A few years later, in 1574, John purchased a castle in Gartness, Scotland. However, when his father died, John and his family moved into...... middle of paper ......rm, there are two basic parts, there is the base and the exponent. The base is the number you will multiply by and the exponent tells you how many times to multiply it. In the case of the example on the right, the base is eight and the exponent is two. This means we will multiply eight by itself twice (8*8 = 82).Works CitedExponent. (June 12, 2013). Math is fun. Retrieved December 1, 2013 from http://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/exponent.htmlJOC/EFR. (1998). John Napier. Napier Summary. Retrieved December 1, 2013 from http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Mathematicians/Napier.htmlJohn Napier. (December 23, 2002). John Napier. Retrieved December 1, 2013 from http://www.johnnapier.com/O'Connor, J. and Robertson, E. (1998). John Napier. Biography of Napier. Retrieved December 1, 2013 from http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Napier.html