I guessed that this would be an article about how mathematicians are starting to become newly important today, with the rise of ML. Most use of mathematics we rely on, up to the present, is performed by non-mathematicians.<p>Off by only five centuries...
Here’s your answer to the question.<p><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_coffee#England" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_coffee#England</a>
Somewhere is another HN article about all the navigation schools that sprung up during the time this article discusses, how eventually everything req you to build technical skills even a contract sailor hundreds of years ago.
Mathematics is the source of Western civilization. Modern science and technology is descended from philosophy and theology, which started with the mathematical presocratics and Plato's use of math to argue for unchanging forms, justifying the pursuit of philosophy in itself.
How important were math books in English really? English mathematicians were reading and writing latin at the time. And would have had access to Euclid well before that book was written.
I kind of like thinkibg of mathematics and language as technology for the mind - in the sense that both enable you to think thoughts that you otherwise may not have been able to think .. and to teach others how to do it, thereby transferring the technology.