"Robert Recorde was not only was the author of one of the most popular textbooks of arithmetic of all time, but he was also a medical doctor, a surveyor of mines, an antiquarian, a poet, and someone deeply involved in the religious controversies that plagued England under the Tudors. Roberts does justice to all these aspects of Recorde's career, and he draws a rich and convincing portrait of the society in which Recorde grew up in Wales, as well as the atmosphere of Oxford and Cambridge where he studied, and of London, which became his home later in life."

MathSciNet

“Roberts’s new biography of Robert Recorde is a wonderfully readable account of this fascinating Tudor scientist, his difficult career in times of religious and political dangers, and his innovative and remarkably entertaining textbooks. It provides context to help the reader fully appreciate the work of this important pioneer of mathematics education.”
 

Tony Mann, Director, University of Greenwich

“A Welsh scholar of great influence, the Tudor mathematics educator Robert Recorde holds a permanent place in the history of mathematics as the inventor of the equals sign. . . . He was also a physician, a poet, and surveyor of mines and monies who was prosecuted for libel and ended his life in prison. This engagingly written book presents the ups and downs of Recorde’s eventful life with great clarity.”
 

Robin Wilson, The Open University