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Girolamo Cardano is one of the most extraordinary characters in the his tory of mathematics. He was born in Pavia in 1501 as the illegitimate son of a jurist and developed into a man of passionate contrasts. He commenced his turbulent professional life as a doctor, studying, teaching, and writing mathe matics while practicing his profession. He once traveled as far as Scotland, and, upon his return to Italy, he successively held important chairs at the Universities of Pavia and Bologna. |
He was imprisoned for a time for heresy
because he published a horoscope
of Christ's life. Resigning his chair in Bolo
gna he moved to Tome and became a distinguished astrologer, receiving a
pension as astrologer to the papal court. He died in Rome in 1576, by his own
hand, one story says, so as to fuflfill his earlier astrological prediction of the date
of his death. Many stories are told of his wickedness, as when in a fit of rage he
cut off the ears of his younger son. Some of the stories could be exaggerations
of his enemies, and it may be that he has been maligned. His autobiography, of
course, supports this viewpoint.
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