Lodovico de Ferrari | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 February 1522 (1522-02-02) |
| Died | 5 October 1565(1565-10-05) (aged 43) Bologna |
| Known for | Solving thebiquadratic equations |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Academic advisors | Gerolamo Cardano |
Lodovico de Ferrari (2 February 1522 – 5 October 1565) was anItalianmathematician best known today for solving thequartic equation.
Born inBologna, Lodovico's grandfather, Bartolomeo Ferrari, was forced out of Milan to Bologna. Lodovico settled in Bologna, and he began his career as the servant ofGerolamo Cardano. He was extremely bright, so Cardano started teaching him mathematics. Ferrari aided Cardano on his solutions forquartic equations andcubic equations, and was mainly responsible for the solution of quartic equations 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.[1]: 300 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 whitearsenic poisoning, according to a legend, by his sister.[2]: 18
In 1545 a famous dispute erupted between Ferrari and Cardano's contemporaryNiccolò Fontana Tartaglia, 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.[3] Mathematical historians now credit both Cardano and Tartaglia with the formula to solve cubic equations, referring to it as the "Cardano–Tartaglia formula".
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