Humphrey Baker facts for kids

Humphrey Baker (who was active between 1562 and 1587) was an English writer. He wrote about arithmetic (which is about numbers and calculations) and astrology (which is about how stars and planets might affect people and events).

About Humphrey Baker

Humphrey Baker lived in London, England. He became known for his books on numbers and the stars.

His Famous Math Book

In 1562, Baker published a book called The Wellspring of Sciences. This book was an introduction to arithmetic. It taught people how to work with numbers. It was very popular for many years. Only The Grounde of Artes by Robert Recorde was more widely used. Later, both books were replaced by Cocker's Arithmetick around the 1700s.

Baker truly loved arithmetic. In 1574, he wrote a special message in his book. He told a group of merchants that arithmetic was like good wine. He said it was so good, it didn't need much advertising.

He also explained that arithmetic came from God's wisdom. He believed it helped people understand deep ideas. Baker asked, "Without arithmetic, how is a shepherd different from a sheep?" He said it was the key to all other learning. He even mentioned Pythagoras, a famous Greek thinker. Pythagoras had a sign on his school door. It said, "No one ignorant of arithmetic may enter here." Baker also called the "rule of three" the "golden rule." This rule helps solve problems by comparing three numbers to find a fourth.

Over the years, Baker's book was updated. A person named Phillippes added new parts to it. One chapter was about fun math tricks. For example, it showed how to guess a number someone was thinking of. The British Museum has many different versions of Baker's book. These editions were printed between 1574 and 1670.

His Astrology Work

In 1587, Baker also translated a small book from French. It was called 'The Rules, &c. touching the use and practice of the common almanacs which are named Ephemerides'. This book taught people how to use almanacs. Almanacs are like calendars that show positions of planets.

The book also gave short lessons on "Judicial Astrologie." This was about trying to predict future events. It used the positions of planets to make these predictions. For example, it suggested that if the Moon and Jupiter were in a certain position, it was a good time to let blood (a medical practice back then). Another prediction was that if Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and the Moon were all in the sign of Leo, people might have stomach pains.