Robert Recorde, The designer ofwel the equals sign, introduced plus and minus to Britain in 1557 in The Whetstone of Witte:[14] "There be other 2 signes in often use ofwel which the first kan zijn made thus + and betokeneth more: the other is thus made − and betokeneth lesse." http://pandora.nla.gov.au/external.html?link=https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwaliteit