Robert Recorde () was an Anglo-Welsh physician and mathematician. He invented the

equals sign The equals sign (British English, Unicode) or equal sign (American English), also known as the equality sign, is the mathematical symbol , which is used to indicate equality in some well-defined sense. In an equation, it is placed between two ...

(=) and also introduced the pre-existing

plus sign The plus and minus signs, and , are mathematical symbols used to represent the notions of positive and negative, respectively. In addition, represents the operation of addition, which results in a sum, while represents subtraction, result ...

(+) to English speakers in 1557.

Biography

Born around 1512, Robert Recorde was the second and last son of Thomas and Rose Recorde of

Tenby Tenby ( cy, Dinbych-y-pysgod, lit=fortlet of the fish) is both a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the western side of Carmarthen Bay, and a local government community. Notable features include of sandy beaches and the Pembroke ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

, in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Recorde entered the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

about 1525, and was elected a Fellow of

All Souls College All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

there in 1531. Having adopted medicine as a profession, he went to the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

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. He invented the "equals" sign. It appears that he afterwards went to London, and acted as physician to King

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

and to Queen Mary, to whom some of his books are dedicated. He was also controller of the

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...

and served as Comptroller of Mines and Monies in Ireland. After being sued for defamation by a political enemy, he was arrested for debt and died in the

King's Bench Prison The King's Bench Prison was a prison in Southwark, south London, England, from medieval times until it closed in 1880. It took its name from the King's Bench court of law in which cases of defamation, bankruptcy and other misdemeanours were hea ...

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, by the middle of June 1558.

Publications

Recorde published several works upon mathematical and medical 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), the first English language book on

algebra Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics. Elementary a ...

. *''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 In astronomy, the geocentric model (also known as geocentrism, often exemplified specifically by the Ptolemaic system) is a superseded description of the Universe with Earth at the center. Under most geocentric models, the Sun, Moon, stars, an ...

while mentioning the Copernican heliocentric model in passing. *''

The Whetstone of Witte ''The Whetstone of Witte'' is the shortened title of Robert Recorde's mathematics book published in 1557, the full title being ''The whetstone of , is the : The ''Coßike'' practise, with the rule of ''Equation'': and the of ''Surde Nombers. T ...

, 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

was introduced within a printed edition. With the publication of this book Recorde is credited with introducing algebra into the Island of Britain with a systematic notation. * A medical work, ''The Urinal of Physick'' (1548), frequently reprinted. Most of those works were written in the form of a

catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...

. (here cited p. 131). Several books whose authors are unknown have been attributed to him: ''Cosmographiae isagoge'', ''De Arte faciendi Horologium'' and ''De Usu Globorum et de Statu temporum''.John Hall, "An Historiall Expostulation", p. 60. In ''Early English Poetry, Ballads, and Popular Literature of the Middle Ages'', v. XI. London: T. Richards, 1844

Notes

References

* * James R. Newman (1956). ''The World of Mathematics'' Vol. 1 ''Commentary on Robert Recorde'' * Philip E. B. Jourdain (1913). ''The Nature of Mathematics'' * Gareth Roberts and Fenny Smith, editors (2012). ''Robert Recorde: The Life and Times of a Tudor Mathematician'' (University of Wales Press, distributed by University of Chicago Press) 232 pages * Jack Williams (2011). ''Robert Recorde: Tudor Polymath, Expositor and Practitioner of Computation'' (Heidelberg, Springer) (History of Computing). * J. W. S. Cassels (1976). ''Is This a Recorde?'', The Mathematical Gazette Vol. 60 No. 411 March 1976 p 59-61 * Gordon Roberts (2016). ''Robert Recorde: Tudor Scholar and Mathematician'' (University of Wales Press).
Frank J. Swetz and Victor J. Katz (2011). "Mathematical Treasures - Robert Recorde's Whetstone of Witte," Convergence (January 2011)

External links

Robert Recorde: the Welshman who invented equalityRobert Recorde
and other Welsh Mathematicians
100 Welsh Heroes – Robert Recorde
This contains numerous quotations from Recorde.
RECORDE (Robert)
in

Charles Hutton Charles Hutton FRS FRSE LLD (14 August 1737 – 27 January 1823) was a British mathematician and surveyor. He was professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich from 1773 to 1807. He is remembered for his calculation of th ...

's ''Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary''
Robert Recorde's life and works on h2g2Current publisher of Robert Recorde's books in the form of original reproductions
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Recorde, Robert 1510s births 1558 deaths People from Tenby Welsh scientists Welsh philosophers Alumni of the University of Oxford Alumni of the University of Cambridge Welsh mathematicians 16th-century English mathematicians 16th-century Welsh medical doctors Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford People imprisoned for debt 16th-century Welsh scientists 16th-century philosophers 16th-century Welsh writers 16th-century male writers

Biography

Publications

See also

Notes

References

External links