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Lodovico de Ferrari (2 February 1522 – 5 October 1565) was an
p. 18
"Cardano v Tartaglia: The Great Feud Goes Supernatural".
/ref> Mathematical historians now credit both Cardano and Tartaglia with the formula to solve cubic equations, referring to it as the "
Lodovico de Ferrari (2 February 1522 – 5 October 1565) was an Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
.
Biography
Born inBologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
, Lodovico's grandfather, Bartolomeo Ferrari, was forced out of Milan to Bologna. Lodovico settled in Bologna, and he began his career as the servant of Gerolamo Cardano
Gerolamo Cardano (; also Girolamo or Geronimo; french: link=no, Jérôme Cardan; la, Hieronymus Cardanus; 24 September 1501– 21 September 1576) was an Italian polymath, whose interests and proficiencies ranged through those of mathematician, ...
. He was extremely bright, so Cardano started teaching him mathematics. Ferrari aided Cardano on his solutions for quadratic equations
In algebra, a quadratic equation () is any equation that can be rearranged in standard form as
ax^2 + bx + c = 0\,,
where represents an unknown value, and , , and represent known numbers, where . (If and then the equation is linear, not quadr ...
and cubic equation
In algebra, a cubic equation in one variable is an equation of the form
:ax^3+bx^2+cx+d=0
in which is nonzero.
The solutions of this equation are called roots of the cubic function defined by the left-hand side of the equation. If all of the ...
s, and was mainly responsible for the solution of quartic equation
In mathematics, a quartic equation is one which can be expressed as a ''quartic function'' equaling zero. The general form of a quartic equation is
:ax^4+bx^3+cx^2+dx+e=0 \,
where ''a'' ≠ 0.
The quartic is the highest order polynomi ...
s that Cardano published. While still in his teens, Ferrari was able to obtain a prestigious teaching post in Rome after Cardano resigned from it and recommended him. Ferrari retired when young at 42 years old, and wealthy. He then moved back to his home town of Bologna where he lived with his widowed sister Maddalena to take up a professorship of mathematics at the University of Bologna in 1565. Shortly thereafter, he died of white arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, but ...
poisoning, according to a legend, by his sister. Gindikin, S., ''Tales of Mathematicians and Physicists'' (A. Shuchat, Trans.). Springer; 2007. p. 18
Cardano–Tartaglia formula
In 1545 a famous dispute erupted between Ferrari and his contemporaryNiccolò Fontana Tartaglia
Niccolò Fontana Tartaglia (; 1499/1500 – 13 December 1557) was an Italian mathematician, engineer (designing fortifications), a surveyor (of topography, seeking the best means of defense or offense) and a bookkeeper from the then Republi ...
, involving the solution to cubic equations. Widespread stories that Tartaglia devoted the rest of his life to ruining Ferrari's teacher and erstwhile master Cardano, however, appear to be fabricated. Rothman, T."Cardano v Tartaglia: The Great Feud Goes Supernatural".
/ref> Mathematical historians now credit both Cardano and Tartaglia with the formula to solve cubic equations, referring to it as the "
Cardano–Tartaglia formula
In algebra, a cubic equation in one variable is an equation of the form
:ax^3+bx^2+cx+d=0
in which is nonzero.
The solutions of this equation are called roots of the cubic function defined by the left-hand side of the equation. If all of the ...
".
References
Further reading
*External links
* * 1522 births 1565 deaths Scientists from Bologna Algebraists 16th-century Italian mathematicians {{Italy-mathematician-stub