Robert Recorde's Arithmetic: or, The Ground of Arts was one of the first printed English textbooks on arithmetic and the most popular of its time. The Ground of Arts appeared in London in 1543, and it was reprinted around 45 more editions until 1700. Editors and contributors of new sections included John Dee, John Mellis, Robert Hartwell, Thomas Willsford, and finally Edward Hatton.
The text is in the format of a dialogue between master and student to facilitate learning arithmetic without a teacher.
References
- Bregman, Alvan (1 July 2005). "Alligation Alternate and the Composition of Medicines: Arithmetic and Medicine in Early Modern England". Med. Hist. 49 (3): 299–320. doi:10.1017/s0025727300008899. PMC 1172291. PMID 16092789.
- Karpinski, Louis (1925). The history of arithmetic. Rand McNally. LCC QA21.K3.
- Recorde, Robert (1543). The Grounde of Artes. London: Reynold Wolff. LCC QA33.R3 1542a.
- Recorde, Robert (1699) [1543]. Edward Hatton (ed.). Arithmetick, or, The ground of arts. London: J.H. for Charles Harper.
Further reading
- John Denniss & Fenny Smith, "Robert Recorde and his remarkable Arithmetic", pages 25 to 38 in Gareth Roberts & Fenny Smith (editors) (2012) Robert Recorde: The Life and Times of a Tudor Mathematician, Cardiff: University of Wales Press ISBN 978-0-7083-2526-1
