Adelard of Bath (1080-c.1150)

Adelard was a Benedictine monk who has been called 'the first English scientist'. He was a mathematician, philosopher and translator, and also an astrologer and astronomer. He studied in Tours and Laon, and travelled in Greece, Italy and Syria at the time of the Crusades. Adelard served both King Henry I and King Stephen, and cast their horoscopes. His translation of Euclid, and his introduction to England of Greek and Arabic ideas on mathematics, including the secret of zero, were extremely influential.