This book casts new light on the work of Thomas Harriot (c.1560-1621), an innovative thinker and practitioner in several branches of the mathematical sciences, including navigation, astronomy, optics, geometry, and algebra. On his death Harriot left behind over 4,000 manuscript sheets, but most of his work still remains unpublished. This book focuses on 140 of those sheets, those concerned with the structure and solution of equations. The original material has been carefully ordered, translated, and annotated to provide the first complete edition of Harriot's treatise, and an extended introduc ... More

This book casts new light on the work of Thomas Harriot (c.1560-1621), an innovative thinker and practitioner in several branches of the mathematical sciences, including navigation, astronomy, optics, geometry, and algebra. On his death Harriot left behind over 4,000 manuscript sheets, but most of his work still remains unpublished. This book focuses on 140 of those sheets, those concerned with the structure and solution of equations. The original material has been carefully ordered, translated, and annotated to provide the first complete edition of Harriot's treatise, and an extended introduction provides the reader with a lucid background to the work. Illustrations from the manuscripts provide additional interest. The appendices discuss correlations between Harriot's manuscripts and those of this contemporaries, Viète, Warner, and Torporley.