Robert Recorde
Robert Recorde | |
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Robert Recorde (1512–1558) | |
Born |
Robert Recorde ca. 1512 Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales |
Died |
1558 London, England |
Nationality | Welsh |
Fields | Mathematician and physician |
Institutions |
University of Oxford Royal Mint |
Alma mater |
University of Oxford University of Cambridge |
Known for | Inventing the "equals" sign (=) |
Robert Recorde (ca. 1512–1558) was a Welsh physician and mathematician. He invented the "equals" sign (=) and also introduced the pre-existing "plus" sign (+) to English speakers in 1557.[1]
Biography
A member of a respectable family of Tenby, Wales, born in 1512,[1] Recorde entered the University of Oxford about 1525, and was elected a fellow of All Souls College there in 1531. Having adopted medicine as a profession, he went to the University of Cambridge to take the degree of M.D. in 1545. He afterwards returned to Oxford, where he publicly taught mathematics, as he had done prior to going to Cambridge. It appears that he afterwards went to London, and acted as physician to King Edward VI and to Queen Mary, to whom some of his books are dedicated. He was also controller of the Royal Mint and served as "Comptroller of Mines and Monies" in Ireland.[2] After being sued for defamation by a political enemy, he was arrested for debt and died in the King's Bench Prison, Southwark, by the middle of June in 1558.
Publications
Recorde published several works upon mathematical subjects, chiefly in the form of dialogue between master and scholar, such as the following:
- The Grounde of Artes, teachings the Worke and Practise, of Arithmeticke, both in whole numbers and fractions (1543),[1] the first English book on algebra.
- The Pathway to Knowledge, containing the First Principles of Geometry ... bothe for the use of Instrumentes Geometricall and Astronomicall, and also for Projection of Plattes (London, 1551)
- The Castle of Knowledge, containing the Explication of the Sphere both Celestiall and Materiall, etc. (London, 1556) A book explaining Ptolemaic astronomy while mentioning the Copernican heliocentric model in passing.
- The Whetstone of Witte, whiche is the seconde parte of Arithmeteke: containing the extraction of rootes; the cossike practise, with the rule of equation; and the workes of Surde Nombers (London, 1557). This was the book in which the equals sign was introduced. With the publication of this book Recorde is credited with introducing algebra into England.[3]
- a medical work, The Urinal of Physick (1548), frequently reprinted.[4]
Sherburne states that Recorde also published Cosmographiae isagoge, and that he wrote a book De Arte faciendi Horologium and another De Usu Globorum et de Statu temporum. Recorde's chief contributions to the progress of algebra were in the way of systematising its notation.
See also
- Equality
- Equals sign
- Equation
- History of mathematical notation
- St. Mary's Church, Tenby
- The Ground of Arts
- Welsh mathematicians
- Zenzizenzizenzic – a word to describe a number to the eighth power coined by Robert Recorde.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Johnston, Stephen (2004). "Recorde, Robert (c.1512–1558)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/23241. Retrieved 26 January 2012. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ↑ Newman, James R. (1956). The World of Mathematics.
- ↑ Jourdain, Philip E. B. (1913). The Nature of Mathematics.
- ↑ The Urinal of Physick, by Robert Recorde, 1548; at Google Books
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Recorde, Robert". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- Newman, James R. (1956). The World of Mathematics Vol. 1 Commentary on Robert Recorde
- Jourdain, Philip E. B. (1913). The Nature of Mathematics
- Roberts, Gareth, and Fenny Smith, eds. Robert Recorde: The Life and Times of a Tudor Mathematician (University of Wales Press, distributed by University of Chicago Press; 2012) 232 pages
- Williams, Jack, Robert Recorde: Tudor Polymath, Expositor and Practitioner of Computation (Heidelberg, Springer, 2011) (History of Computing).
- J.W.S. Cassels, Is This a Recorde?, The Mathematical Gazette Vol. 60 No. 411 Mar 1976 p 59-61
External links
- St. Andrew's University Maths History biography
- Robert Recorde and other Welsh Mathematicians
- 100 Welsh Heroes – Robert Recorde
- Earliest Uses of Symbols of Relation
- Earliest Known Uses of Some of the Words of Mathematics This contains numerous quotations from Recorde.
- RECORDE (Robert) in Charles Hutton's Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary
- Robert Recorde's life and works on h2g2
- Current publisher of Robert Recorde's books in the form of original reproductions
- Works by Robert Record at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Robert Recorde at Internet Archive
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