August 01, 2018 Wednesday
Bedtime Story
Cardano and Ferrari
Last night I had started with the quartic
equation (not to be confused with the more familiar and similar sounding
quadratic equation), meaning a polynomial equation or a function of degree
four.
Quartic polynomial is sometimes also known
as biquadratic though I have rarely come across that word being used in the
popular mathematical literature.
Just remember, whenever you come across the
word ‘popular’ attached to word science or math, it implies ‘for duffers or
morons’, though no author will explicitly state that truth.
After all, it is the moronic masses that are
the consumers of such “popular” stuff and form the market for such class of
literature and hence stating the obvious will imperil the very existence of
these writers.
In actual mathematics, biquadratic
polynomial is particularly reserved for polynomial of the form:
f(x) = ax4 + cx2
+ e with a ≠ 0
The story of quartic involves none of the
three characters of the cubic, at least not directly, but yet another new
Italian character by the name of Lodovico Ferrari.
Just as in today’s times where most of the
scientific discoveries comes either from the United states or Great Britain, in
the period between the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries it was Italy that was leading
the Renaissance and making major contributions to mathematics, sciences and the
arts.
Ferrari started out as being a man-servant
of Cardano but so impressed was Cardano by the mathematical brilliance of
Ferrari that he started to teach him mathematics and converted him to his
student.
Cardano himself was an illegitimate child
whose mother tried to abort him and this Cardano wrote distinctly in his
autobiography that he was “taken by violent means from my mother; I was almost
dead”.
Cardano’s mother Chiara had to flee his
place of birth as plaque was devouring Italians at a rate that we would find
hard t believe; Chiaro lost her three other children in this epidemic.
Cardano had an utterly miserable and even
depressing childhood with frequent illness including impotence and a father who
was more of a task master to him.
Perhaps this was the reason that Cardano
had his sympathies with his man servant Ferrari and converted him to his
student.
Cardano occupied a prestigious teaching
post in Milan thanks to the influence of some noblemen and at the very same time
he got the medical license to practice medicine (he got his doctorate in
medicine in 1525 but faced rampant discrimination by his peers and colleagues
because of his illegitimate birth and cantankerous nature).
After this, he simultaneously taught
mathematics in Milan and also practiced medicine (initially he was denied the
license to practice medicine in the large and affluent city of Milan and had to
settle for the small town of Saccolongo), and apparently he became one of the
most sought after physicians in Milan.
It always delights me when I come across in
the European history men who were both doctors and mathematicians, something
which I aspire to but lack the mental prowess to be one.
Stay tuned to the voice of an average story storytelling
chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.com
Good night Mon Ami and my fellow cousin ape.
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Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
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