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 witte, whiche is the seconde parte of Arithmetike: containyng thextraction of Rootes: The Coßike practise, with the rule of Equation: and the woorkes of Surde Nombers.

[5] He also devised symbols for these factors: a zenzic was denoted by z, and a cubic by &.

For instance, he referred to p8=p2×2×2 as zzz (the zenzizenzizenzic), and q12=q2×2×3 as zz& (the zenzizenzicubic).

[6] Later in the book he includes a chart of exponents all the way up to p80=p2×2×2×2×5 written as zzzzʃz.

[7] Page images have been made available by Victor Katz and Frank Swetz through Convergence, a publication of Mathematical Association of America.