In his 1557 work ''
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. ...
'',
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English ...
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
Robert Recorde
Robert Recorde () was an Anglo-Welsh physician and mathematician. He invented the equals sign (=) and also introduced the pre-existing plus sign (+) to English speakers in 1557.
Biography
Born around 1512, Robert Recorde was the second and last ...
proposed an
exponent
Exponentiation is a mathematical operation, written as , involving two numbers, the '' base'' and the ''exponent'' or ''power'' , and pronounced as " (raised) to the (power of) ". When is a positive integer, exponentiation corresponds to re ...
notation
In linguistics and semiotics, a notation is a system of graphics or symbols, characters and abbreviated expressions, used (for example) in artistic and scientific disciplines to represent technical facts and quantities by convention. Therefore, ...
by
prime factorisation, which remained in use up until the eighteenth century and acquired the name ''Arabic exponent notation''. The principle of Arabic exponents was quite similar to
Egyptian fractions
An Egyptian fraction is a finite sum of distinct unit fractions, such as
\frac+\frac+\frac.
That is, each fraction in the expression has a numerator equal to 1 and a denominator that is a positive integer, and all the denominators differ from eac ...
; large exponents were broken down into smaller prime numbers. Squares and cubes were so called; prime numbers from five onwards were called ''sursolids''.
Although the terms used for defining exponents differed between authors and times, the general system was the primary exponent notation until
René Descartes
René Descartes ( or ; ; Latinized: Renatus Cartesius; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Mathe ...
devised the Cartesian exponent notation, which is still used today.
This is a list of Recorde's terms.
By comparison, here is a table of prime factors:
See also
*
Surd
External links (references)
Mathematical dictionary, Chas Hutton, pg 224
Mathematical notation
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