Robert Recorde, The designer of the equals sign, introduced plus and minus to Britain in 1557 in The Whetstone ofwel Witte:[14] "There be other twee signes in often use ofwel which the first kan zijn made thus + and betokeneth more: the other is thus made − and betokeneth lesse." http://italianculture.net/redir.php?url=https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwaliteit