Foirmlí agus Táblaí
I’ve written on here before about Log Tables but since I’ve recently acquired a set of my own I thought I’d celebrate by mentioning them again. This is what the term “Log Tables” refers to in Ireland:
This book is in regular use in schools and colleges throughout Ireland, but that the term is a shorthand for a booklet containing a general collection of mathematical formulae, scientific data and other bits of stuff that might come in useful to students. There are a lot more formulae than tables, but everyone has calculators now so those aren’t really necessary. There is no table of logarithms in the Log Tables, actually. I suppose much older versions did have more tables, but as these were phased out the name just stuck and they’re still called Log Tables.
The official book costs €4. I bought it in Maynooth’s excellent local independent bookshop. The man who served me knew exactly what I meant when I asked for Log Tables.
I’m old enough to remember actually using tables of logarithms (and other mathematical tables of such things as square roots and trigonometric functions, in the form of lists of numbers) extensively at school. These were provided in this book of four-figure tables (which you can now buy for 1p on Amazon, plus p&p).
As a historical note I’ll point out that I was in the first year at my school that progressed to calculators rather than slide rules (in the third year) so I was never taught how to use the former. My set of four-figure tables which was so heavily used that it was falling to bits anyway, never got much use after that and I threw it out when I went to university despite the fact that I’m a notorious hoarder.
Students in Theoretical Physics at Maynooth are allowed to ask for Log Tables in any formal examination. The formulae contained therein are elementary in terms of physics, so won’t help very much with more advanced examinations, but I have no problem with students consulting the Log Tables if their mind goes a bit blank. It seems to me that an examination shouldn’t be a memory test, and giving students the basic formulae as a starting point if anything allows the examiner to concentrate on testing what matters much more, i.e. the ability to formulate and solve a problem. The greatest challenge of science education at University level is, in my opinion, convincing students that their brain is much more than a memory device.
Here’s an example page that shows some elementary formulae for Mechanics with explanations as Gaeilge in English.
These formulae come up in Physics and/or Applied Mathematics at Leaving Certificate but we don’t require students taking Mechanics in the first year to have done either of those subjects so many students find pages such as this very helpful.
I was interested to learn that colleagues in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics here in Maynooth do not allow the use of Log Tables in examinations. I don’t know why.
In the Dark 
April 1, 2023 at 7:52 pm
During our QMUL years, the form that we sent off to the examinations office with the master copy of the summer’s exam papers had a box you could tick to ask that all candidates should be provided with a book of six-figure log tables on exam day. I was occasionally tempted to tick the box, partly to find out if the examinations office actually still had log table books, and partly to see the reaction of the students when they sat down at the start of the exam. I never did, though. I think my students had probably suffered enough already by the time the exam came round.
April 6, 2023 at 5:46 pm
I allow the students in my classes to bring one sheet of paper to their exams. They may write whatever they wish on the sheet of paper, but it must be in their own handwriting.
I don’t think it makes much difference in the results, but I do think that it does reduce the anxiety levels of some students.