ADELARD

, or Athelard, was a learned monk of Bath, in England, who flourished about the year 1130, as appears by some manuscripts of his in Corpus Christi, and Trinity Colleges, Oxford. Vossius says he was universally learned in all the sciences of his time; and that, to acquire all sorts of knowledge, he travelled into France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Egypt, and Arabia. He wrote many books himself, and translated others from different languages: thus, he translated, from Arabic into Latin, Euclid's Elements, at a time before any Greek copies had been discovered; also Erichiafarim, upon the seven planets. He wrote a book on the seven liberal arts, another on the astrolabe, another on the causes of natural compositions, besides several on physics and on medicine.

Although Vossius refers to Oxford for some of these manuscripts, it would yet seem they were not to be found there in Wallis's time; for the Doctor, speaking of this author, and other English authors and travellers about the fame age, says, “A particular account of these travels of Sholley and Morley was a while since to be seen in two prefaces to two manuscript books of theirs in the library of Corpus-Christi College in Oxford, but hath lately (by some unknown hand) been cut out, and carried away; which prefaces (one or both of them) did also make mention of the travels of Athelardus Bathoniensis, and are, to that purpose, cited by Vossius out of that manuscript copy. Whoever hath them, would do a kindness (by some way or other) to restore them, or at leaft a copy of them.” Wallis's Algebra, pa. 6.

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Entry taken from A Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary, by Charles Hutton, 1796.

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ADAGIO
ADAMAS
ADAR
ADDITION
ADDITIVE
* ADELARD
ADELM
ADERAIMIN
ADFECTED
ADHESION
ADHIL