Introduction Nicholas Copernicus  De Revolutionibus John Dee  The Mathematicall Praeface Robert Recorde  The Castle of Knowledge Marcellus Palingenius Stellatus  The Zodiake of Life Thomas Digges  A Perfect Description of the Celestial Orbs Giordano Bruno  The Ash Wednesday Supper Galileo Galilei  Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems Bibliography		Robert Recorde    (c. 1510-1558) Robert Recorde was one of the most eminent mathematicians and teachers in England during the middle of the sixteenth century, who wrote books on arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy, all in English. Castle ofKnowledge (1556), is a comprehensive textbook on astronomy, written in the form of a dialogue between the Master and his young Scholar. The book is meant to train its reader in traditional astronomy, but Recorde is already familiar with the Copernican theory, which must have become a topic of much interest to astronomers and mathematicians, as this excerpt indicates.
Copyright 1999, MATC Last updated 1 September 1999