Thomas Blundeville

Thomas Blundeville, who lived from about 1522 to about 1606, was an English humanist writer and mathematician known for work on logic, astronomy, education and horsemanship and for translations from the Italian. His interests were wide-ranging and directed towards practical ends, and he adapted freely a number of the works he translated. A pioneer writer in English in several areas, he is credited as the inventor of the protractor, a standard classroom geometrical instrument. He lived as a country gentleman on his estate at Newton Flotman in Norfolk, inherited from his father Edward Blundeville in 1568, had connections with court circles and with London scientific intellectuals, was an associate of Henry Briggs at Gresham College, enjoyed the patronage of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and worked as a mathematics tutor to households including that of Nicholas Bacon.