The first description of this scale was published in Paris in 1624 by Edmund Wingate ( c. 1593 -- 1656 ) , an English mathematician , in a book entitled `` L'usage de la reigle de proportion en l'arithmetique & geometrie '' .
The first description of this scale was published in Paris in 1624 by Edmund Wingate ( c. 1593 -- 1656 ) , an English mathematician , in a book entitled '' `` L'usage de la reigle de proportion en l'arithmetique & geometrie '' . ''