Recorde is considered the founder of the English school of mathematical writers, and was the first English writer on arithmetic, geometryand astronomy. Recorde was the first mathematician to introduce algebra in England. Most of his works were prevalent until the end of the 16th century, and some until the end of the 17th century. Many of his writings were in poetic form as an aid to students in remembering the rules of operation.

Recorde was the second son of Thomas Recorde, a second-generation Welshman, and Rose Johns of Montgomeryshire. He received a B.A. from Oxford University in 1531 and in the same year became a member of All Souls College--a chantry and graduate foundation for theology, civil and canon law, and medicine. He later moved to Cambridge, where he received his M.D. degree in 1545, and became physician to Edward VI and Queen Mary. Records indicate that Recorde...