Robert Recorde: Tudor Scholar and Mathematician

241 Pages·2016·10.086 MB·English

by  Gordon Roberts

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S c i e n t i S t S o f w a l e S
Rober t
Recorde
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ScientiStS of waleS
Series Editor
Gareth Ffowc Roberts
Bangor University
Editorial Panel
Iwan Rhys Morus
Aberystwyth University
John V. Tucker
Swansea University
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S c i e n t i S t S o f w a l e S
R o b e r t
R e c o r d e
Tudor Scholar
and maThemaTician
G o r d o n r o b e r T S
UNIVERSITY OF WALES PRESS
2016
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© Gordon Roberts, 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any material
form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic
means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this
publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner except
in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988. Applications for the copyright owner’s written permission to reproduce
any part of this publication should be addressed to the University of Wales
Press, 10 Columbus Walk, Brigantine Place, Cardiff CF10 4UP.
www.uwp.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-78316-829-3 (hardback)
978-1-78316-854-5 (paperback)
eISBN 978-1-7831-6830-9
The right of Gordon Roberts to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77, 78 and 79 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
THE LEARNED SOCIETY OF WALES
CYMDEITHAS DDYSGEDIG CYMRU
DCEALTEHBLRUA YTSINGGO LSHCHEIOCLTAORDS AH IGPW AANSDA SNEAREVTIHNUG’ TRH GEE NNAETDILON
Publication of Robert Recorde: Tudor Scholar and Mathematician
has been made possible with grant assistance from Tenby
Museum and Art Gallery.
Typeset by Marie Doherty
Printed by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, Wiltshire.
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Contents
Series Editor’s Foreword vii
List of Illustrations ix
Preface and Acknowledgments xi
Genealogy of Robert Recorde Physician xiii
Prologue 1
1 Child of Tenby 7
2 Oxford Scholar 17
3 Cambridge Savant 27
4 Such is Your Authority 39
5 St Paul’s Churchyard 53
6 Doctor Recorde 63
7 Antiquarian and Mathematician 75
8 No Mean Divine 87
9 Comptroller of the King’s Mints 97
10 The Muscovy Company 107
11 This Talk Delights Me Marvellously 117
12 Pedagogue and Poet 129
13 Surveyor of the Mines and Monies 143
14 Nemesis 153
15 A Heart So Oppressed 165
16 An Unquiet Mind 177
17 One of His Elect in Glory 189
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Epilogue 199
Notes and References 207
Select Bibliography 213
Index 217
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SerieS editor’S Foreword
W
ales has a long and important history of contributions to sci-
entific and technological discovery and innovation stretching
from the Middle Ages to the present day. From medieval scholars to
contemporary scientists and engineers, Welsh individuals have been
at the forefront of efforts to understand and control the world around
us. For much of Welsh history, science has played a key role in Welsh
culture: bards drew on scientific ideas in their poetry; renaissance gentle-
men devoted themselves to natural history; the leaders of early Welsh
Methodism filled their hymns with scientific references. During the
nineteenth century, scientific societies flourished and Wales was trans-
formed by engineering and technology. In the twentieth century the
work of Welsh scientists continued to influence developments in their
fields.
Much of this exciting and vibrant Welsh scientific history has now
disappeared from historical memory. The aim of the Scientists of Wales
series is to resurrect the role of science and technology in Welsh history.
Its volumes trace the careers and achievements of Welsh investigators,
setting their work within their cultural contexts. They demonstrate how
scientists and engineers have contributed to the making of modern
Wales as well as showing the ways in which Wales has played a crucial
role in the emergence of modern science and engineering.
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RhagaiR golygydd
y gyfRes
O
’r Oesoedd Canol hyd heddiw, mae gan Gymru hanes hir a
phwysig o gyfrannu at ddarganfyddiadau a menter gwyddonol
a thechnolegol. O’r ysgolheigion cynharaf i wyddonwyr a pheirianwyr
cyfoes, mae Cymry wedi bod yn flaenllaw yn yr ymdrech i ddeall a
rheoli’r byd o’n cwmpas. Mae gwyddoniaeth wedi chwarae rôl allweddol
o fewn diwylliant Cymreig am ran helaeth o hanes Cymru: arferai’r
beirdd llys dynnu ar syniadau gwyddonol yn eu barddoniaeth; roedd
ŷ
gan w r y Dadeni ddiddordeb brwd yn y gwyddorau naturiol; ac
roedd emynau arweinwyr cynnar Methodistiaeth Gymreig yn llawn
cyfeiriadau gwyddonol. Blodeuodd cymdeithasau gwyddonol yn ystod y
bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg, a thrawsffurfiwyd Cymru gan beirianneg
a thechnoleg. Ac, yn ogystal, bu gwyddonwyr Cymreig yn ddylanwadol
mewn sawl maes gwyddonol a thechnolegol yn yr ugeinfed ganrif.
Mae llawer o’r hanes gwyddonol Cymreig cyffrous yma wedi hen
ddiflannu. Amcan cyfres Gwyddonwyr Cymru yw i danlinellu cyfraniad
gwyddoniaeth a thechnoleg yn hanes Cymru, â’i chyfrolau’n olrhain
gyrfaoedd a champau gwyddonwyr Cymreig gan osod eu gwaith yn ei
gyd-destun diwylliannol. Trwy ddangos sut y cyfrannodd gwyddonwyr
a pheirianwyr at greu’r Gymru fodern, dadlennir hefyd sut y mae Cymru
wedi chwarae rhan hanfodol yn natblygiad gwyddoniaeth a pheirianneg
fodern.
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