Cardano, Girolamo

Girolamo Cardano (Pavia, September 24th 1501 – Roma, September 20th 1576) was a doctor, astrologer and mathematician. Many technical terms are named after him: the cardan joint and the cardan suspension, for instance. He is also to credit with writing a fundamental text in the history of mathematics, the Ars Magna. His Liber de Ludo Alea, a book on probability calculus, is also worth special mention.

Cardano was, however, first and foremost a doctor and a natural philosopher of international fame; fame which was partly derived from his De Subtilitate, an extensive encyclopaedic work referencing both traditional knowledge and experimental research and ranging anywhere between optics, officinal plants, new instruments descriptions and zoology.

He began his medical studies in Pavia, aged nineteen, and led a fairly nomadic life afterwards; he moved between Padua and Milan, to then come back to his native Pavia to teach at the University. In the meantime, a few fortunate treatments applied to members of the Borromeo family helped his fame as a skilled doctor to grow considerably. Even St. Andrews archbishop, John Hamilton, primate of Scotland, sought help form Cardano for his chronic respiratory issues.

He eventually moved from Pavia to Bologna, mostly because of strong disagreements with his University colleagues; there he was however tried by the Inquisition, and in the end had to move to Rome. Vincenzo Monti wrote about Cardano:

It is difficult to say whether extravagance or vastness of intellect prevails in him.