Who was Henry Briggs and what was his nationality?

Henry Briggs was a British mathematician and university teacher who lived during the existence of the Kingdom of England. He held citizenship in the Kingdom of England and was a prominent figure in the scientific community of his time.

What was Henry Briggs's most significant mathematical achievement?

His most significant achievement was the development of common logarithms (base 10) in collaboration with John Napier. This innovation transformed logarithms from a theoretical concept into a practical tool for calculation, leading to the creation of extensive logarithmic tables.

Where did Henry Briggs work and study?

Briggs was educated at St John's College and Merton College, both constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge and University of Oxford respectively. He later served as a professor at Gresham College, an educational institution in London.

How did Henry Briggs influence later mathematicians?

Briggs's work directly influenced the development of numerical computation and the Scientific Revolution. His base-10 logarithmic tables became the standard for centuries, enabling faster and more accurate calculations in astronomy, navigation, and engineering.

What specific works did Henry Briggs publish?

He published *Arithmetica Logarithmica* in 1624 and *Trigonometria Britannica* in 1633. These works provided detailed logarithmic tables that were essential for scientific and navigational calculations of the era.

Henry Briggs

British mathematician

Person human Q335086

Facts

25 properties

Instance of: human
Sex or gender: male^[20]
Date of birth: February 1, 1561
Date of death: January 26, 1630
Place of birth: Halifax, Warley Town^[7]
Place of death: Oxford
Country of citizenship: Kingdom of England^[9]
Ethnic group: English people^[11]
Occupation: mathematician, university teacher
Employer: Gresham College, St John's College, Merton College^[12]^[13]^[14]
Educated at: St John's College, University of Cambridge^[15]^[16]
Notable work: Arithmetica Logarithmica, Trigonometria Britannica^[17]^[18]
Doctoral student: John Pell^[21]
Languages spoken, written or signed: Latin, English^[34]^[35]
Described by source: Nordisk familjebok, Small Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition, Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, BEIC Digital Library, The Nuttall Encyclopædia, Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1926–1947), Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, 4th edition (1885–1890)^[25]^[26]^[27]^[28]^[29]^[30]^[31]^[32]^[33]
Family name: Briggs^[23]
Given name: Henry^[24]
Influenced by: John Napier^[19]
Maintained by WikiProject: WikiProject Mathematics
Name in native language: Henry Briggs^[36]
Native language: English^[10]
P14536: 413570
P14977: RETE014309
Place of burial: Merton College Chapel^[8]

Show all 25 facts +1

Residence: England^[22]

🏷️ Also known as

en Henry Briggs ar هنري بريغز (عالم رياضيات) cs Henry Brigs cs Henricus Briggius cs Henry Brigges fa هنری بریگز he הנרי בריגס ja ヘンリー・ブリッグス ja ヘンリー・ブリッグズ ru Бригс Г. ru Бриггс, Генри ru Бригс Генри ru Бригс, Генри ru Генри Бригс sv Briggs sv Henry Briggius uk Брігс uk Генрі Бріґґз uk Генрі Брігс zh 亨利·布里格斯

🔖 Identifiers · 79

ISNI: 0000000083439553
VIAF cluster ID: 59149892
Library of Congress authority ID: n85801264
GND ID: 11866008X
Image (Wikimedia Commons): Henry-Briggs.jpg ↗
Bibliothèque nationale de France ID: 12305061c
Book Owners Online person ID: Henry_Briggs_1561-1630
Brockhaus Enzyklopädie online ID: briggs-henry
CANTIC ID: 981058514741306706
CCAB ID: 000159107
CERL Thesaurus ID: cnp01337269, cnp01442240, cnp01307499
CONOR.SI ID: 199085667

Show all 79 identifiers +67

Cambridge Alumni Database ID: BRGS577H
Canadiana Name Authority ID: ncf11330806
CiNii Research ID: 1140000791762784512
DDB person (GND) ID: 11866008X
Deutsche Biographie (GND) ID: 11866008X
Early Modern Letters Online person ID: 9f4208f9-76dc-433d-a6c9-2e685244edaf
Edition humboldt digital ID: H0003653
Enciclopedia Galega Universal ID: 90107
Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy ID: 464-1
Encyclopædia Britannica Online ID: biography/Henry-Briggs
Encyclopædia Universalis ID: henry-briggs
FAST ID: 143441
Freebase ID: /m/01dwj2
Geni.com profile ID: 6000000007408346194
Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana ID: henry-briggs
Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana ID (former scheme): 0012263
Great Norwegian Encyclopedia ID: Henry_Briggs
Hrvatska enciklopedija ID: 9504
IdRef ID: 031925464
KBR person ID: 14431233
Kalliope-Verbund (GND) ID: 11866008X
Lexikon der Mathematik entry ID: 1310
Libraries Australia ID: 35691191
Lur Encyclopedic Dictionary ID: 01166/eu_b_4745/b4745
MR Author ID: 418054
MacTutor biography ID: Briggs
MoEML ID: BRIG2
Museo Galileo authority ID: 6064
NACSIS-CAT author ID: DA02168768
NE.se ID: henry-briggs
NL CR AUT ID: ola2009531259
NLA Trove people ID: 1044413
NLP ID: a0000003774968
NSK (VIAF) ID: 000389599
NSK ID: 981005797989609366
NUKAT ID: n2015054427
National Library of Chile ID: 000052009
National Library of Lithuania ID: LNB:B8sq;=B+
National Library of Poland MMS ID: 9810560300705606
National Library of Portugal ID: 1678243
National Library of Spain SpMaBN ID (BNE v1.0): XX866085
Nationale Thesaurus voor Auteursnamen ID: 074062891
Online PWN Encyclopedia ID: 3880694
Open Library ID: OL1941544A
OpenMLOL author ID: 113999, 377947
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ID: 3407
Oxford Reference overview ID: 20110810104516866
Proleksis enciklopedija ID: 13587
RERO ID (legacy): A013831684
SBN author ID: BVEV072691
SNAC ARK ID: w69s4pbt
Six Degrees of Francis Bacon ID: 10001553
Symogih.org ID: Actr52378
The Galileo Project ID: briggs
Treccani ID: henry-briggs
Treccani's Enciclopedia Italiana ID: henry-briggs
Treccani's Enciclopedia della Matematica ID: briggs
University of Barcelona authority ID: 981058514741306706
University of Barcelona authority ID (former scheme): a1284065
Vatican Library ID (former scheme): ADV10093535
Vatican Library VcBA ID: 495/136284
Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija ID: henry-briggs
Wellcome Collection concept ID: g8wjv9fy
WikiTree person ID: Briggs-2597
WorldCat Entities ID: E39PBJmP93BgFVRDQvfb3c4jG3
Yale LUX ID: person/0feb8b41-8312-469d-a30d-1ee0e2f57d87
ZbMATH author ID: briggs.henry

Report an error or request removal Lineage (PROV-JSON)

🔗 Connections

Described by source 5

Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition, Nordisk familjebok, The Nuttall Encyclopædia, BEIC Digital Library

Employer 3

St John's College, Merton College, Gresham College

Educated at 2

University of Cambridge, St John's College

Influenced 2

James Gregory, John Pell

Languages spoken, written or signed 2

English, Latin

Named after 2

Briggs, Briggs Peak

Occupation 2

mathematician, university teacher

Place of birth 2

Halifax, Warley Town

Country of citizenship 1

Kingdom of England

Doctoral student 1

John Pell

Doctoral students 1

John Pell

Family name 1

Briggs

Given name 1

Henry

Influenced by 1

John Napier

Instance of 1

human

Maintained by WikiProject 1

WikiProject Mathematics

Native language 1

English

Place of death 1

Oxford

Residence 1

England

Sex or gender 1

male

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Summary

Henry Briggs was born on February 1, 1561^[1], in Halifax^[2]. He died on January 26, 1630^[3], in Oxford^[4]. He worked as a mathematician^[5] and university teacher^[6].

Body

Works and Contributions

Things named for Henry Briggs include Briggs^[37], a lunar crater^[38] and Briggs Peak^[39], a mountain^[40].

Why It Matters

Henry Briggs has been cited as an influence by James Gregory^[41], a mathematician^[42], 1638–1675^[43], of Kingdom of Scotland^[44], awarded the Fellow of the Royal Society^[45], specialised in mathematics^[46] and John Pell^[47], a mathematician^[48], 1611–1685^[49], of United Kingdom^[50], specialised in number theory^[51].

Entities named for him include Briggs^[37], a lunar crater^[38] and Briggs Peak^[39], a mountain^[40].

His notable doctoral advisees include John Pell^[52], a mathematician^[53], 1611–1685^[54], of United Kingdom^[55], specialised in number theory^[56].

FAQs

Where was Henry Briggs born?

Henry Briggs was born in Halifax^[2].

Where did Henry Briggs die?

Henry Briggs died in Oxford^[4].

What did Henry Briggs do for work?

Henry Briggs worked as a mathematician^[5] and university teacher^[6].

Where did Henry Briggs go to school?

Henry Briggs was educated at St John's College^[15] and University of Cambridge^[16].

Who did Henry Briggs influence?

Henry Briggs has been cited as an influence by James Gregory^[41] and John Pell^[47].

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

[2] ↑ Henry Briggs — place of birth (P19): Halifax. Q20730607. wikidata.org.
[7] ↑ Henry Briggs — place of birth (P19): Warley Town. MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. wikidata.org.
[4] ↑ Henry Briggs — place of death (P20): Oxford. Q20730607. Retrieved 2026-10-17. wikidata.org.
[20] ↑ Henry Briggs — sex or gender (P21): male. Q20730607. Retrieved 2024-07-13. wikidata.org.
[9] ↑ Henry Briggs — country of citizenship (P27): Kingdom of England. Q20730607. wikidata.org.
[15] ↑ Henry Briggs — educated at (P69): St John's College. MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. wikidata.org.
[16] ↑ Henry Briggs — educated at (P69): University of Cambridge. MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. wikidata.org.
[10] ↑ Henry Briggs — native language (P103): English. Q20730607. wikidata.org.
[5] ↑ Henry Briggs — occupation (P106): mathematician. Q20730607. wikidata.org.
[6] ↑ Henry Briggs — occupation (P106): university teacher. Q20730607. wikidata.org.
[12] ↑ Henry Briggs — employer (P108): Gresham College. Q20730607. wikidata.org.
[13] ↑ Henry Briggs — employer (P108): St John's College. MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. wikidata.org.
[14] ↑ Henry Briggs — employer (P108): Merton College. MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. wikidata.org.
[8] ↑ Henry Briggs — place of burial (P119): Merton College Chapel. westoverfamilyhistory.org. westoverfamilyhistory.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[11] ↑ Henry Briggs — ethnic group (P172): English people. wikidata.org.
[21] ↑ Henry Briggs — doctoral student (P185): John Pell. wikidata.org.
[22] ↑ Henry Briggs — residence (P551): England. wikidata.org.
[1] ↑ Henry Briggs — date of birth (P569): February 1, 1561. SNAC. Retrieved 2017-10-09. wikidata.org.
[3] ↑ Henry Briggs — date of death (P570): January 26, 1630. Integrated Authority File. Retrieved 2014-04-27. wikidata.org.
[23] ↑ Henry Briggs — family name (P734): Briggs. wikidata.org.
[24] ↑ Henry Briggs — given name (P735): Henry. wikidata.org.
[19] ↑ Henry Briggs — influenced by (P737): John Napier. wikidata.org.
[17] ↑ Henry Briggs — notable work (P800): Arithmetica Logarithmica. wikidata.org.
[18] ↑ Henry Briggs — notable work (P800): Trigonometria Britannica. wikidata.org.
[25] ↑ Henry Briggs — described by source (P1343): Nordisk familjebok. wikidata.org.
[26] ↑ Henry Briggs — described by source (P1343): Small Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. wikidata.org.
[27] ↑ Henry Briggs — described by source (P1343): Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. wikidata.org.
[28] ↑ Henry Briggs — described by source (P1343): Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition. wikidata.org.
[29] ↑ Henry Briggs — described by source (P1343): Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900. wikidata.org.
[30] ↑ Henry Briggs — described by source (P1343): BEIC Digital Library. digitale.beic.it. digitale.beic.it. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[31] ↑ Henry Briggs — described by source (P1343): The Nuttall Encyclopædia. wikidata.org.
[32] ↑ Henry Briggs — described by source (P1343): Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1926–1947). wikidata.org.
[33] ↑ Henry Briggs — described by source (P1343): Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, 4th edition (1885–1890). wikidata.org.
[34] ↑ Henry Briggs — languages spoken, written or signed (P1412): Latin. BnF authorities. Retrieved 2015-10-10. wikidata.org.
[35] ↑ Henry Briggs — languages spoken, written or signed (P1412): English. wikidata.org.
[36] ↑ Henry Briggs — name in native language (P1559): Henry Briggs. Q20730607. wikidata.org.

Inverse relationships (entities pointing at this one)

Inline context (facts about related entities)

[42] ↑ James Gregory — P106: mathematician. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[43] ↑ James Gregory — P569: 1638–1675. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[44] ↑ James Gregory — P27: Kingdom of Scotland. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[45] ↑ James Gregory — P166: Fellow of the Royal Society. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[46] ↑ James Gregory — P101: mathematics. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[48] ↑ John Pell — P106: mathematician. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[49] ↑ John Pell — P569: 1611–1685. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[50] ↑ John Pell — P27: United Kingdom. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[51] ↑ John Pell — P101: number theory. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[53] ↑ John Pell — P106: mathematician. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[54] ↑ John Pell — P569: 1611–1685. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[55] ↑ John Pell — P27: United Kingdom. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[56] ↑ John Pell — P101: number theory. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[38] ↑ Briggs — P31: lunar crater. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[40] ↑ Briggs Peak — P31: mountain. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site

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@misc{4ortxyz_henry-briggs_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{Henry Briggs}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/henry-briggs}, note = {Accessed: 2026-11-06}}

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5d ago · Bug002 · 2026-11-03 view diff on Wikidata ↗

P14977 → RETE014309

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"/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/63645|batch #63645]]: RETEtoWD QS 03-11-2026 13:20"
22d ago · OKA bot bot · 2026-10-17 view diff on Wikidata ↗

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Wikipedia languages → ['ar', 'azb', 'be', 'bg', 'bn', 'ca', 'commons', 'cs', 'de', 'en', 'es', 'eu', '

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+ 5 other properties edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)

"/* wbsetclaim-update-references:1||1|1 */ Place of death: Oxford, source for place of death from Store norske leksikon ([[Wikidata:Requests for permissions/Bot/OKA bot 2|OKA bot task 2]])"
19w ago · Printstream · 2026-06-26 view diff on Wikidata ↗

P14536 → 413570

"/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14536: 413570, #quickstatements; #temporary_batch_1782462304762"
22w ago · Bargioni · 2026-06-06 view diff on Wikidata ↗

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