Geoffrey Chaucer, the poet, wrote a treatise on the Astrolabe for his
son, which is the earliest English treatise we have met with on any
scientific subject. It was not completed; and the apologies which
Chaucer makes to his own child for writing in English are curious;
while his inference that his son should therefore “pray God save the
king that is lord of this language,” is at least as loyal as logical.