Robert Recorde, The designer of 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 of which the first is made thus + and betokeneth more: the other is thus made − and betokeneth lesse." In https://www.openlearning.com/u/barnettfog-sx1aud/about/