Sheet 1 of 10

758968830.xlsx.xls

28-May-24
Solution's of a Cubic 5:45 PM

Equation ST-19
by cardon Formula
ENGINEERING MAKES THE DIFFERENCE Original Date:MAR 12, 1997 V 1.15 File:ST19-CubicEqn.xlsx
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N
GENERAL You may send your comments to: [email protected]
Please refer to equation 1-41 in my file ST2-Sag-Ten-Par.xlsx, in the section 6-Sag-Tension in Part 1 of this book. The equation is:

 2 El 2  2 El 2
   0  0 2  E t  t0  (1-41)
24 2
24 0

It was noted there that the RHS of the equation comprises of the known data and was substituted with -A. On the LHS, the second term
consisted of known data divided by unknown stress squared. Following steps were listed to transform the equation into more common
form as follows:

B
  A This can be simplified by multiplying both sides by σ2 we get row 20
2
By rearrangement we get:
 3  B   A 2
In old days this was solvable by a slide rule.

  A  B
3 2
(1-41B)

The equation was solved using Newton Raphson technique and the Goal Seek tool in Microsoft Excel. That step was not automatic and
required the intervention of the user after he or she entered data. In the present work book, I am using an automated method, avoiding the
use of Goal Seek tool by Using the famous Cardon's formula for depressed cubic equation. row 30

SOME HISTORY Reference 1) "Journey through Genius" by William Dunham, 2) "Great Thinkers, Great Theorems"
Lectures by Prof. William Dunham, published by The Teaching
Company of , Lectures 10 and 11. 3) An Imaginary Tale: The
Story of √-1"by Paul J. Nahin, 4) "Ars Magna" by Girolamo
Cardano, Chapter 11.

In the year 1494 , the Italian Luca

Pacioli (ca. 1445- 1 509) produced
a volume titled Summa de row 40
Arithmetiea.

row 50

In it, Pacioli treated the standard mathematics of his day, with emphasis on solving both linear and quadratic
equations. Interestingly, he flirted with a primitive symbolic algebra by using "co" to denote the unknown quantity in
his equations. This was short for cosa, the Italian word for "thing"-that is, the thing to be determined. It would be
a century or more before algebra evolved into the symbolic system that we recognize today, but Summa de
Arithmetiea had taken a step in this direction. Pacioli's assessment of the cubic equation-that is, an equation of
the form ax3 + bx2 + cx + d = 0 -was decidedly pessimistic. He had no idea how to solve the general cubic and
expressed the belief that no idea how to solve the general cubic and expressed the belief that such a solution was
as impossible , given the state of mathematics, as squaring the circle.
row 60
The story begins with Scipione del Ferro ( 1 465-1 526) of the University of Bologna. Taking up Pacioli's
challenge, the talented del Ferro discovered a formula that solved the so-called "depressed cubic. " This is a
third-degree equation that lacks its second degree, or quadratic term. That is, the depressed cubic looks like
ax3 + cx + d = 0. Usually, we prefer to divide through by "a" and move the constant term to the right hand side
of the equal sign, so as to convert the depressed cubic to its standard form ax 3 + cx = 0.

Renaissance Italians called this "cube and cosa equals number," for obvious reasons. Although he had mastered only this particular
kind of cubic, del Ferro's algebraic advance was significant. On his deathbed he passed it along to his student Antonio Fior
(ca. 1 506-?)
row 70
Although Fior was not so good a mathematician as his mentor, he rashly went on the offensive with his new-
found weapon and in 1535 levelled a challenge at the noted Brescian scholar Niccolo Fontana ( 1499-1557).
Fontana was nicknamed Tartaglia-which is Italian for the Stammerer, because in his childhood he was
attacked by a French soldier on face. The injury made him stammer. Physical deformities aside , Tartaglia
was a gifted mathematician. In fact, he boasted that he could solve cubics of the form x 3 + mx2 = n. that is,
cubics missing their linear terms. That is exactly what I have been looking for my sag-tension equation. I call
it a despondent cubic. But either he did not know the solution of this equation or kept it secret as was the custom of mathematicians
 Sheet 2 of 10
758968830.xlsx.xls

28-May-24
Solution's of a Cubic 5:45 PM

Equation ST-19
by cardon Formula
ENGINEERING MAKES THE DIFFERENCE Original Date:MAR 12, 1997 V 1.15 File:ST19-CubicEqn.xlsx
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N
of that time. Tartalgia accepted the challenge and Not surprisingly, he began a frantic, round-the-clock attack on the depressed
cubic . His frustrations mounted as the days passed and the critical deadline approached, Then, on the night of February 13 , 1535.
with time almost exhausted, Tartaglia discovered the solution. row 80

But then entered perhaps the most bizarre character in the whole history of mathematics, Gerolamo Cardano
(1501-1576) of Milan. Cardano had heard of the challenge and desired to learn more of the wonderful techniques
of Tartaglia, the master of the cubic equation. Rather boldly, Cardano asked the Brescian to divulge the secret,
and from there the story took unexpected and remarkable turns. In view of Cardano's achievements in mathematics,
I want to give his life sketch. But not all readers may be interested in this, I will give it at the end of this chapter,
so that casual reader may limit himself to the mathematics only.

A cubic equation is a polynomial of the third degree and has the general form:
ax 3  bx 2  cx  d  0 (I) row 90
A depressed equation will have the x2 term missing. But in our case(Equation 1-41C-below) the x2 term is there but the x term is missing.
 3  14.489282 2  401.5947 =0 (1-41C) see in my ST2-Sag-Ten-Par.xlsx:

May be I can call it a despondent cubic equation. Let us try Cardano's method of depressing x2 term from above equation (I) above.
He uses a substitution:

3 2
b  b   b   b 
x y (IIA) Thus the general cubic equation(I above) will become a  y    b  y    c  y    d  0 ....(III)
3a  3a   3a   3a
row 100
Expanding bionomial terms: 
 b
2
b  b  
3
 
 b b  
2
  b 
a  y 3  3y 2  3y        b  y 2  2 y     c  y   d  0

 3a  3a   3a  
 
 3a  3a  
  3a

 3 b2 b 3   2 2b 2 b3   cb 
 ay  by  y   by  y  2    cy    d  0
2
2 
 3a 27a   3a 9a   3a 
Originally, I had introduced a stupid error in opening the second bracket. I had multiplied with b only the y 2 term and omitted the rest.
Despite my efforts again and again, I could not locate this error and circulated the contents among my friends. The first comment
came from my grand daughter, Maida, who was then seeking admission into Electrical Engineering and now is a student there.
She remarked that I should have done Algebra by using pencil and paper. Mathcad software is a stupid software. It introduces false sence row 110
of security. Thanx Maida! I pray and hope, she becomes a good Electrical engineer.

The y2 term cancels out. Dividing throughout by "a" :

 3 b2 b 3   2b 2 b3  c bc  d
y  2 y  3 
 2 y  3  y  2    0
 3a 27a   3a 9a   a 3a  a
Expanding further and Grouping y terms in one group and constants in an other group

 b2 2b 2 c   b3 b3 bc d 
y 3  2 y  2 y  y  3
 3 2 0 row 120
 3a 3a a   27a 9a 3a a 
or summarising:
 b2 c   2b 3 bc d 
y 3  2   y  3
 2  0
 3a a   27a 3a a
Transferring constant term on the RHS:
 b2 c   2b 3 bc d 
y 3    2   y    3  2   ........(IIIA) Note change in the sign of constants term
 3a a   27a 3a a 
Thus equation (IIIA) takes the form of: row 130
y 3
 py  q
Where
 b2 c   2b 3 bc d 
p    13 2   .........(IV)
 a a
and
q   3
 2   ............(V)
Then Cardano's solution can be used to give the value of y as follows:  27a 3a a

q q2 p3 3 q q2 p3
y  3       (VI)
2 4 27 2 4 27
Finally from IIA above we get row 140
b
x y  (VII)
3a

I will pause here and compare the above solution

 Sheet 3 of 10
758968830.xlsx.xls

28-May-24
Solution's of a Cubic 5:45 PM

Equation ST-19
by cardon Formula
ENGINEERING MAKES THE DIFFERENCE Original Date:MAR 12, 1997 V 1.15 File:ST19-CubicEqn.xlsx
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N
with that given by Ralph G. Hudson, S.B., in his
"The Engineers' Manual", second
edition, twentieth printing, 1961,
page 4 para 9 (b) shown here on the
right. A comparison with Cardano's row 150
formula shown by equation (VI) above
will clearly bring out the fact that there
there is an issue with the minus sign
I diligently compared the symbols with
above derivation. My p and q computed in terms of coefficients of the general cubic(Equations (IV) and (VI) above are corroborated as
follows: (I have transliterated his symbols to mine for easy comparison.) Firstly I give a comparison of my symbols with those of
Hudson:
G Hudson's variable: My variables Hudson's variable: My variables
Eq e n y x Depressed a p
ua rae Equation b
tio l C p b -q row 160
n ub q c
ic r d
None a
And now a symbol conversion to compare with above values of P and q:
My equation (IV) & (V) Hudson's equation Remarks

 
As in both equations
p  3 3c  b
1 2
coefficient a = 1, we
can re-write Hudson'e
 b2 c   b2 c  equations (for p and q
p    13 2   p    13   match with those of row 170
 a a   a a  mine

q  1
27  2b 3
 9bc  27d 

 2b bc d 
3
 2b 3 bc d 
q   3
 2  q    2 
 27a 3a a 3
 27a 3a a

But unfortunately the formulae for A and B and consequently for the root of the equation does not match.
Here is my working: row 180
Hudson gives:

b b 2 a3 b b 2 a3
A3   , B 3  
2 4 27 2 4 27
And thus:

b b 2 a3 3 b b 2 a3
x 3      
2 4 27 2 4 27
Substituting with Cardano's symbols namely b to n and a to m, we get: row 190

n n2 m3 3 n n2 m3
x 3      
2 4 27 2 4 27
Taking out minus sign from
the second cubic term: n n2 m3 3 n n2 m3
x 3      ...........(A)
We get: 2 4 27 2 4 27

row 200
Compare it to Cardono's
Formula as given on
page 145 by Prof.
Dunham in his
above refered book
one can clearly see the
difference in sign of the right hand term of the second cube root. This can be explained if we consider the difference in the
form of the two depressed equations:
Dunham gives it on page 142 near the bottoma:
row 210

While Hudson uses the depressed equation of the form:

By changing symbols it can be re-written as: or
3
x  mx  n  0 x 3  mx   n
 Sheet 4 of 10
758968830.xlsx.xls

28-May-24
Solution's of a Cubic 5:45 PM

Equation ST-19
by cardon Formula
ENGINEERING MAKES THE DIFFERENCE Original Date:MAR 12, 1997 V 1.15 File:ST19-CubicEqn.xlsx
A B C D x 3 Emx  n F0 G
x 3 H mx  
I
n J K L M N

Thus changing n to -n in equation A above we get:

n n2 m3 3 n n2 m3 Which is the same as Cardano's.

x  3       ...........(B)
2 4 27 2 4 27
row 220
Conclusion: My Algebra NOW is NOT in error .

The despondent cubic equation in my ST2-Sag-Ten-Par.xlsx:

 2   14.489282   401.5947 .......( 1.41A)

Verification:
x 3  1.42x 2  8.114238x  8.537238 Where did I get this equation from?

a =1 b = -1.42 c = -8.114238 d = 8.53724

Using equations (V) and (IV) above: q= -4.4844033
p= -9.122438  b2 c 
Using equation (VI) above y= Err:502 p    13 2   .........(IV)
 a a

q q2 p3 3 q
y  3     
2 4 27 2

Expanding and bringing the constant term on RHS it is

 3  14.489282 2  401.5947 =0 (1-41C)
Comparing it with the general cubic equation (I) in row 90 above
Substituting values from (1-41C) in row 92 into (IV) row 133 we compute p:
a= 1 b = 14.4893 c= 0 d = -401.595
row 266
 14.4892822 0 
p    13  
Therefore:  12 1

p= -69.979764
Substituting values from (1-41C) in row 92 into (V) row 141 we compute q:

 2  14.4892823 14.489282  0 401.5947 

q      ............(V)
 27  13 3  12 1  row 276
Or
 2  14.4892823 401.5947 
q     ............(VI)
 27  13 1 
q= 176.27102

q2 p3
 
4 27
 Sheet 5 of 10
758968830.xlsx.xls

28-May-24
Solution's of a Cubic 5:45 PM

Equation ST-19
by cardon Formula
ENGINEERING MAKES THE DIFFERENCE Original Date:MAR 12, 1997 V 1.15 File:ST19-CubicEqn.xlsx
A B C D E 2F 3 G H I J K L M N
To find out y from equation (VI)row 92 we compute first q p -4924.82 3 real and equal roots
 
4 27
q 2 p3
  70.1771 i This is imaginary number row 286
4 27

Therefore y =
From equation (VII) x=
The answer is ABSURD
Let us plot the despondent equation (1-41C) above:

Ϭ LHS
0 -401.5947 SOS row 296
0.5
1.0
-397.84738
-386.10542
I have requested my friends to go through my
1.5 -365.61882 algebra and see if I messed up somewhere. I
2.0 -335.63757
2.5 -295.41169 revised it umpteen times and every second or
3.0 -244.19116 third time, I would find an error. I have lost all
3.5 -181.226
4.0 -105.76619 patience to check it further.
4.5 -17.061739 Obviously the solution is between Ϭ = 4.5 and 5.0
4.5881179 0.0003265 Ϭ in my file ST2-Sag-Ten-Par.xlsx = 4.58811791678981 row 306
5.0 85.63735

ALTERNATE SOLUTION
The equation to be solved is of the form:
 3  A 2  B (1-41B)
Using Cardono's strategy I covert this Despondent Equation into Depressed Equation:

Substitute A
 x   A 
3
A
2

3 x    A x    B
 3  3 row 316

A
2
A  A 
3
 A  A  
2
Expanding it becomes x 3  3x 2  3x       A  x 2  2x        B
3 3 3   3   3  

Or
x 3  Ax 2
 13 A 2 x  1
27 A 3  A x 2  23 A 2 x  19 A 3  B

The second and fifth term, containing x2 cancels out.

Collecting similar terms row 326
3 1
x  3 A x  3 A x  271 A 3  19 A 3  B
2 2 2

x 3  13 A 2 x   B  272 A 3 
Or

This is the depressed equation of the form:

in which and
x 3  mx  n m   13 A 2 n B  2
27 A3

Cardono's Solution is
n n2 m3 3 n n2 m3
x  3      
2 4 27 2 4 27 row 336
Substituting data from solved example in file ST2-Sag-Ten-Par.xlsx
A= 14.489282 And B= -401.5947
m = -69.979766 n = -626.91838
For ease of convenience and to be sure of quality result, I compute first the blue and red components as follows:

Blue = -313.45919 Red = 292.5132 Using these two results:

x = -208.97279
A
Using the substitution:  x  = -213.803 The answer is ABSURD
3
Result in in file ST2-Sag-Ten-Par.xlsx Ϭ = 4.58812 row 346

CHRISTY'S CUBIC SPREADSHEET

Christy, in his book, "Engineering with the Spreadsheet" has a workbook #58, solving equations, including the cubic equation. I tried to
input my equation in his spreadsheet but failed. Christy does not explain his spreadsheet sufficiently. I will keep on trying to understand
his logic. It gives my style of workbooks an edge as mine are addressed to young engineers and come with full explanation. Even some
 Sheet 6 of 10
758968830.xlsx.xls

28-May-24
Solution's of a Cubic 5:45 PM

Equation ST-19
by cardon Formula
ENGINEERING MAKES THE DIFFERENCE Original Date:MAR 12, 1997 V 1.15 File:ST19-CubicEqn.xlsx
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N
theory is included. I do understand Christy's limitation. Firstly he was trying to convert his Lotus work into excel. Second he is a civil
engineer of repute. And above all, his work is endorsed and owned by ASCE, a reputable association of civil engineers. So there is an
air of authority and an aura of holiness around it. Although he writes in introduction at page 1,

QUOTE row 356

"You, as an engineer, must understand the calculations you produce. Computer program answers and choices from
tables are good if documentation is provided. "Black Box" and table answers without documentation don't
demonstrate professional understanding. What's more, codes can be interpreted in different ways by other
engineers and building officials. This requires the ability to adjust the program or spreadsheet templates to meet
these varied requirements. Also no program or template will answer all of the possible combinations . of inputs
and required outputs.

Stated in another way, due diligence is required. There is no such thing as "engineering in a can"…blind faith in
computer solutions does not serve as due diligence.
UNQUOTE row 366
I agree with him whole heartedly.

CARDANO'S DERIVATION RE-ENECTED

Cardeno's cube is shown on the right here. It is t units on all sides.
The cube has been subdivided into smaller units, such that the
dimensions: BC = CD = DF = u, AB = DE = t-u
Volumes of the big cube = t3
Volume of small shaded cube = u3
Volume of the Big Shaded cube = (t-u)3
Volume of the slab in front on Base AB = t-u, row 376
height = t and thickness = u = ut(t-u)
Volume of the slab on side on Base
DE = t-u, height = t and thickness = u = ut(t-u)
Volume of a block in front just above the small
shaded cube = u2(t-u)
Volume of a block just below the big shaded block
with base (t-u) by (t-u) and height u = u(t-u)2
Cardano equated the total volume of cube is
equal to sum of all the seven volumes above as below:
row 386
t 3  u 3  (t  u )3  2ut (t  u )  u 2 (t  u )  u (t  u )2
Or
t 3  u 3  (t  u )3  t  u   2ut  u 2  ut  u 2 
Note that the red terms cancel out and blue terms add up.
Or 3
t  u  (t  u )  3ut t  u 
3 3

Or rearrangement gives:
(t  u )3  3ut t  u  =t 3  u 3 ........... 
Compare the last equation with depressed cubic of row 396
x 3  mx  n
Substituting in the * equation above, one can substitute x for (t-u) m for 3ut and n for (t3 - u3)
If we solve equations and
3ut  m 3 3
t u  n
Ars Magna does not present a derivation of these quantities. Rather, Cardano simply provided the specific rule for solving the "Cube and
Cosa Equal to the Number" that is cited below:
TIlEOREM Rule to solve x3 + mx = n:
Cube one-third the coefficient of X; add to it the square of one-half the constant
of the equation; and take the square root of the whole . You will duplicate
[repeat] this, and to one of the two you add one-half the number you
have already squared and from the other you subtract one-half the same . . . row 406
Then, subtracting the cube root of the first from the cube root of the second,
the remainder which is left is the value of x.
Trying to decipher his purely verbal recipe is no easy feat and certainly makes one appreciate the concise , direct approach of a modern
algebraic formula. Exactly what was Cardano saying in this passage? To begin, consider his two conditions on t and u, namely
and
3ut  m 3
t u  n
3

3
From the former we compute m Substituting this into latter we get: m 
u t3    n
3t  3t 
 Sheet 7 of 10
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28-May-24
Solution's of a Cubic 5:45 PM

Equation ST-19
by cardon Formula 3
m
ENGINEERING MAKES THE DIFFERENCE Original Date:MAR  m1997
12,  V 1.15 File:ST19-CubicEqn.xlsx
u
3
t    n
A B C 3t D E F G H  3tI  J K L M N
3 row 416
m
3 m
Expanding and rearranging:
t3  n 0
Multiplying throughout by t3 it becomes: t 6  nt  0
27t 3 27
At first, this appears to be no improvement whatever, for we have traded our original third-degree equation in x for a sixth-degree equation
in t. What saved the day, of course , was that the latter can be regarded as a quadratic equation in the variable T 3.
3
m
t  3 2
 nt 
27
0
The quadratic formula, which had been available to mathematicians for centuries then yielded:
4m 2
n  n2  2
row 426
27  n  1 n 2  4m  n  n 2 4m 2
t3  2 
2 2 27 2 4 27

n n 2 m 3 Now, we also know that u3 = t3 - n, and so we conclude that

Then using only the positive rout: t  3  
2 4 27

n n2 m3 n n2 m3
u3    n Or u   
2 4 27 2 4 27 row 436

At last, we have the algebraic version of Cardano's rule for solving the depressed cubic x 3 + mx = n, namely

n2 n2 m3 3 n2 n2 m3
x  t u  3      
2 4 27 2 4 27 Q. E. D
A TIME LINE OF CARDANO'S SOLUTION

1494 Luca Pacioli published Summa de Arithmetical. In it he observed that solution to cubic equation was not possible. row 446
Cubic equation of the form : ax3 +bx2 + cx + d = 0
1520? Scipioni Del Ferro of the University of Bologna discovers solution of a depressed cubic equation of the form:
x3 + mx = n. As the solution was not published, exact date is not known. Ferro lived from 1465 to 1526. On his deathbed he
passed it along to his student Antonio Fior (ca. 1 506-?)
1535 Fior levelled a challenge at the noted Brescian scholar Niccolo Fontana ( 1499- 1 5 57)(known as Tartaglia-the stammerer) .
1536 Tartaglia solved the depressed cubic on February 1 3 , 1 535
1539 Gerolamo Cardano ( 1 5 0 1 - 1 576) of Milan asked Tartaglia to divulge the secret of the solution. Finally on March 2 5 ,
1539, the secret recipe was disclosed to Cardano. But Cardano had to take a solemn oath not to reveal the secret.
???? Cardano was able to covert a General Cubic of the form ax3 + bx2 + cx + d = 0 to depressed cubic.
1543 Cardano travels to Bologna. Sees Ferro's hand written notes on solution available with Fior. row 456
1545 Cardano publishes the solution of General and depressed cubic equation in his Ars Magna, the "Great Art". It is in
Chapter X I , titled "On the Cube and First Power Equal to the Number".

HORATIO STORY OF CARDANO

NOTE: I thought of abstracting Cardano's horatio story. But thought Professor Dunham has described already with the help of
Cardano's autobiography. I listened his talk and was engrossed in it. What a fascinating description. Fearing that I might
destroy the beauty of his prose, I am reproducing from Dunham's book, "Journey Through Genius". In my view, even if I am
not successful in implementing Cardano's solution for my sag-tension subject, His life story continues to fascinate me.
Cardano's life is not in any way easier and comfortable as of Stephan Hawking, yet given the sketchy state of Algebra,
Cardano achieved a lot with the limited algebraic symbolism of his age.. He was a real genius. row 466

QUOTE
We are fortunate to have a first-person account in his autobiography De Vita Propria Liber (The Book of My Life) written in 1575 . This
book is awash with Cardano's recollections, peeves, and superstitions, not to mention a wealth of extremely peculiar anecdotes. More
than most autobiographies , this one must be regarded sceptically; even so, it gives us a revealing glimpse of his turbulent life . Cardano
began with a brief discussion of his forebears. His family tree may have included Pope Celestino IV, not to mention a distant cousin
Angiolo, who, at the venerable age of eighty
begot sons-infants feeble as if with their father's senility . . . The eldest of these sons has lived to be
seventy, and I hear that some of his children became giants
row 476
Then, in a chapter called "My Nativity, " Cardano revealed that although various abortive medicines-as I have heard-were tried in vain he
survived, only to be "literally torn from my mother's womb". This experience left him nearly dead, and a bath of warm wine was required to
bring the infant Gerolamo back to life . It appears that Cardano may have been illegitimate, thus explaining his unwelcome arrival, and
the associated stigma played a key role in his life's story.

With such a shaky start, it should come as no surprise that Cardano was plagued with infirmities throughout his life . In his autobiography,
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he never hesitated to describe these afflictions, often in complete if not disgusting detail . He told of violent heart palpitations, of fluids
oozing from the stomach and chest, of ruptures and haemorrhoids, not to mention a disease characterized by "an extraordinary discharge
of urine" yielding up to 1 00 ounces (nearly a gallon) per day. He recorded an intense fear of high places, as well as "of places where there
is any report of mad dogs having been seen. " He experienced years of sexual impotence, which lasted until just before his marriage row 486
(certainly an example of good timing) . It was not unusual for Cardano to experience eight consecutive nights of insomnia; at such times
there was little he could do but "get up, walk around the bed, and count to a thousand many times. "

On those rare occasions when h e was not suffering from one of his horrible ailments, Cardano would consciously inflict pain upon himself.
He did so because "I considered that pleasure consisted in relief following severe pain" and, when not suffering physically, "a certain
mental anguish overcomes me , so grievous that nothing could be more distressing ". Consequently,
I have hit upon a plan of biting my lips, of twisting my fingers, of pinching
. the skin of the tender muscles of my left arm until the tears come.

Cardano was saying, more or less, that these self-inflicted tortures were desirable because it felt so good when he stopped. row 496

Fragile physical (and mental) health was not his only problem. After compiling an excellent record at the University of Padua on the way
to becoming a physician, Cardano was refused permission to practice medicine in his home of Milan. This refusal may have been due to
his reputed illegitimacy or to his grating and bizarre personality, but whatever its cause, it marked one of the low points in a life notable
for its ups and downs.

Rejected by Milan, Cardano moved to the small town of Sacco, near Padua, where he practiced medicine in the bucolic, if somewhat

limiting, confines of country life . One night in Sacco, he dreamt of a beautiful woman in white . As one who put great stock in the meaning
of dreams, he was thus strongly affected when, some time later, he encountered a woman exactly matching his dream apparition. At first, row 506
the poor Cardano despaired at the impossibility of courting her:
If I, a pauper, marry a wife who has no dot save a troop of dependent brothers and sisters, I'm done for!
I can scarcely pay my expenses as it is! If I should attempt an abduction, or try to seduce her, there
would be plenty to spy upon me.
Still , his love made marriage irresistible. In 1531 , he married Lucia Bandarini, the woman of his dreams.

As this episode suggests, dreams, omens, and portents figured prominently throughout Cardano's life . He was an ardent astrologer,
a wearer of amulets, and a seer of visions who predicted the future from thunderstorms. In addition, he often felt the presence of a
protective spirit, or guardian angel l , as he remarked in his autobiography:
Attendant or guardian spirits . . . are recorded as having favoured certain men constantly-Socrates , row 516
Plotinus, Synesius, Dio, Flavius Josephus-and I include myself. All, to be sure , lived happily save
Socrates and me . . .
Apparently, he did not hesitate to carry on lively conversations with his attendant spirit. Says Oystein Ore, Cardano' s twentieth century
biographer, " I n the face of such tales it is no wonder that some of his contemporaries believed that he was not in his right mind."

Another of his life-long interests was gambling. Cardano regularly indulged in games of chance, often earning substantial sums to
supplement his income. Contritely, he acknowledged in his. autobiography
. . . as I was inordinately addicted to the chess-board and the dicing table, I know that I must
rather be considered deserving of the severest censure . I gambled at both for many years; and
not only every year, but-I say it with shame-every day. row 526
Fortunately, Cardano subjected this vice to a scientific scrutiny. His resulting Book on Games of Chance, published posthumously in
1663, was the first serious treatise on the mathematics of probability.

And so, casting horoscopes, constantly gambling, beginning a family, Gerolamo Cardano spent the years from 1 526 to 1 532 in Sacco.

But neither his pocketbook nor his ego could endure the small-town atmosphere for long, and by 1 532 Cardano, with wife Lucia and
son Giambattista, was back in Milan, still forbidden to practice medicine and ultimately consigned to the poorhouse .

Then, at last, fortune smiled upon him . Cardano began giving lectures on popular science that were especially well received by the
educated and nobility. He wrote successful treatises on topics ranging from medicine to religion to mathematics. In particular, in 1536 he row 536
published an expose attacking the corrupt and inadequate practices of Italian doctors. This work, not surprisingly, was detested by the
medical community but embraced by the public, and Cardano could be kept from practicing medicine no longer. The College of
Physicians in Milan grudgingly accepted him into their ranks in 1539, and soon he shot to the top of his profession. By mid-century,
Cardano was perhaps the most famous and sought-after doctor in Europe, one who treated the Pope and even travelled to Scotland-a
long and arduous journey in those days to care for the Archbishop of St. Andrew's.

His days of triumph were not to last, for personal tragedies soon intervened. In 1546, his wife died at age 31 , leaving Cardano with two
sons and a daughter. Of these, the elder son, Giambattista, was Cardano's hope and joy. The boy proved quite bright, taking his medical
degree in Pavia, and appeared to be following his father into a brilliant medical career.
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row 546
But disaster struck in the form of a "wild woman" (Cardano's words). He related that, on the night of December 20, 1 557, " . . . when the
desire (to sleep) was about to overcome me, my bed suddenly seemed to tremble, and with it the whole bed-chamber. " The next
morning, Cardano's inquiries revealed that no other townsperson had felt this nocturnal quake, and Cardano took it as a very bad omen .
No sooner had he reached this conclusion than his servant brought the unexpected news that Giambattista had married a woman "utterly
without dowry or recommendation ."

I indeed, the match proved to be an unfortunate one . Giambattista's wife bore three children, none of whom, she boasted, was
Giambattista's. Such infidelity, openly flaunted, brought the young man to the breaking point. In retaliation, he prepared for her a cake
laced with arsenic. It did its job all too well, and Giambattista was arrested for murder. Cardano's tireless efforts and great reputation were
to no avail; his beloved son was convicted and beheaded in early April 1560 . row 556

"This was my supreme, my crowning misfortune" , the grieving Cardano wrote . Despondent, he lost his friends, his career, and his zest
for life . Moreover, his other son, Aldo, was himself turning into a criminal, and Cardano actually was "obliged to have him imprisoned
more than once . " Heartbreak seemed to follow heartbreak.

In 1562, he abandoned Milan, the city of his triumphs and tragedies, and accepted a position in medicine at the University of Bologna.
With him he took Fazio, Giambattista's son. Between the old man and the boy there developed a strong and loving relationship that
perhaps, in his waning years, gave Cardano some of the joy that his own offspring had not.

But the young boy and the new city did not bring tranquillity into this stormy life . In 1570, Cardano was arrested and jailed on row 566
charges of heresy. At the time, of course, the Church in Italy had adopted a hard line against the unorthodoxies of the Reformation,
and it certainly found no comfort in Cardano's casting the horoscope of Jesus or writing the book In Praise of Nero about the hated,
anti-Christian Roman emperor.

Jailed and humiliated, the aging Cardano seemed to have met with his final disgrace. Yet, thanks to the testimonials of his illustrious
friends and the leniency of the Church, Cardano soon got out of prison, went to Rome, and somehow wound up with a pension from the
Pope! His was a "Horatio Algebra" story, if ever there was one . Thus resurrected, joined by his beloved grandson, Cardano spent his
last years. Although an old man, he noted proudly in his autobiography that he still possessed "fourteen good teeth, and one which is
rather weak; but it will last a long time, I think, for it still does its share ." Cardano spent his last years in relative tranquillity and died
quietly, after a very full life, on September 20, 1576. row 576

To the modern reader, Cardano remains a fascinating, if self-contradictory, character. He was incredibly prolific; his collected works' fill
seven thousand pages and cover a bewildering array of topics, scientific and otherwise . Yet even as he had one foot planted in the
modern, rational world, he had another squarely planted in the superstitious irrationality of the Middle Ages. Looking back a century later,
the great philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz summed him up quite aptly: "Cardano was a great man with
all his faults; without 􀡸hem, he would have been incomparable . " UNQUOTE

17-Apr-15 row 586

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PREFACE ENDS