Lanette Prediger - The rise and fall of Jerome Cardano

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The Proceedings of the

12th Annual

HISTORY

OF

MEDICINE DAYSFa c u l t y o f M e d i c i n e

T h e U n iv e r s i t y o f C a l g a r y

ANIETATE TA APXAIA

INA EnEYAHTE TA KAINA

March 21st and 22nd, 2003

Health Sciences CentreCalgary, AB

Edited By

Dr. W. A. Whitelaw



THE RISE AND FALL OF JEROME CARDANO

B y

Lanette Prediger

University o f Calgary

Preceptor: Dr. K. Todd

ABSTRACT

Jerome Cardano is not a name that rings familiar with most people. This is

surprising, as he was a man of great accomplishments in an astounding

number of fields whose ideas and inventions are still relevant today.

Amongst his brightest achievements were: developing the first mathematical

theory of probability and risk, inventing the Cardan shaft (commonly seen in

rear wheel drive automobiles), describing a way to solve quadratic equations

using radicals (“Cardan’s solution”), writing over 200 books on topics

ranging from philosophy to physics, being offered many prestigious positions

as court physician to historical figures such as the Pope, Mary Queen of

Scots and Charles the V, and being heralded as “the best physician in the

world” during the peak of his success. This is but a sampling of his

achievements.

Why, then, is Cardano ’s name is not more widely recognized? Perhaps it

was due to his terrible personal life. It was marred by a number of public

and private scandals, including charges of plagiarism and the arrest and

execution of his eldest son. Much of his misfortune was his own fault,

however, as he had a well known outspoken and abrasive character. In

Cardano’s own words: “unique an d outstanding amongst my fau lts - the habit,

which I persist in, o f preferring to say above a ll things what I know to be

displeasing to the ears o f my hearers. I am aware o f this, yet I keep it up

wilfully, in no way ignorant o f how many enem ies it makes fo r m e”(6).

Jerome Cardano was a fascinating physician of the Renaissance whose

diverse array of achievements was accomplished despite overwhelming

personal faults.

The Life History of Jerome Cardano

Jerome Cardano was a brilliant man of the Renaissance with significant accomplishments in

a large variety of disciplines. He was a highly regarded Renaissance physician; at one point

he was referred to as the “greatest physician in the world”(1). He received countless offers

from many such as Pope Gregory XIII, King Charles V and Mary Queen of Scotts to serve as

Proceedings of the 12h Annual History of Medicine Days ~ 41 ~

WA Whitelaw - March 2003



court physician, and was appointed Rector o f the College o f Medicine in Milan. He was

also a prolific author, with a staggering 233 works to his name. The topics varied from

medicine, cosmology, and religion to how to be a successful gambler. He was also a

prominent Renaissance polymath who contributed to physics, biology, mathematics and

philosophy. Many of Cardano’s theories and inventions are still used today. So why is it

then that many of us have never heard of the Cardano? Perhaps there is more to him than

meets the eye. Let us travel back into the life history of Cardano, whose personal life is as

intriguing and colourful as his academic career.

Cardano was born in Pavia, Italy in 1501(1). He was born illegitimately, a fact that would

haunt him in his adult life, to a notorious Italian lawyer and a widow more than 20 years his

junior. He was also born despite the fact that his mother tried in vain to abort him twice (2).

Cardano’s childhood was unremarkable except for the fact that he was sickly, which made

him more inclined to pursue academics pursuits. Also, his parent’s relationship was

extremely tumultuous. His mother and father didn’t live together until late childhood, and

Jerome was constantly reminded of how he was a burden to his young and poor mother.

After Cardano’s father moved into the household he became an important influence on

Jerome (2). Fazio was a lawyer by trade, but was remembered in history instead for his

mathematical acuity. Fazio was an expert in geometry and taught mathematics at the

University of Padua. He was even an occasional consultant for Leonardo da Vinci (3). He

was a well-known member of the community, but perhaps not for his academic

contributions, but his abrasive nature and addiction gambling. Fazio’s personality and

gambling problem eventually cost him his life - he was killed during a card game as a result

of being caught cheating.

In 1518 Cardano began university studies at Pavia University and received a B.A. in 1521(3).

After his first degree, he decided to pursue an MD. It is from here that Cardano’s life

becom es increasingly interesting. He inherited his father’s mathematical inclination but also

his undesirable personality and interest in gambling. In fact, Cardano used his gambling

winnings to finance his way through medicine. Unlike his father who resorted to cheating to

win, Jerome developed the theory o f mathematical probability and applied this knowledge to

calculate odds in games o f cards and dice. The first book he wrote at the age of 23, called

“The book on games o f Chance” described his new theories o f probability (4). The theories

described in this book were found to be useful in trade and commerce, and the general

principles are still used in almost every major business today (see Appendix)(5).

It was during his medical education that Cardano’s confrontational personality began to

hinder his career. He was well aware o f his nature, which he described himself as:

Unique an d outstanding amongst my fau lts- the habit, which I persist in, o f

preferring to say above all things what I know to be displeasing to the ears o f

my hearers. I am aware o f this, ye t I keep it up wilfully, in no way ignorant of

how many enemies it makes fo r me. (6)

Proceedings of the 12h Annual History of Medicine Days ~ 4 2 ~




Upon graduation in 1525, he was declined admission into the College o f Physicians in

Milan for the first time. Although it was well known that it was because o f his personality,

the official reason for the rejection was because of his illegitimate birth.

Because he was denied admission into the College of Physicians, Cardano could not practice

medicine in Milan and was forced to move to a small Italian village called Saccolongo in

1526 (2). He set up a small and largely unsuccessful practise here that went bankrupt

numerous times. In 1531 he married a woman called Lucia and together they had three

children- Giambatista, Aldo, and a daughter whose name he did not mention once in his

autobiography (she became a prostitute who died of syphilis, and hence not highly regarded

by her father)(5). Cardano continued to apply to the College, but was rejected again and

again. He reverted back to gambling. However, his luck was not so good this time around

and he spent what was left of an inheritance from the death of his father as well as pawned

most of his fam ily’s belongings (3).

Poverty stricken, the Cardano’s moved back to Milan where Jerome was fortunate enough to

take the position that his father used to hold as a math lecturer in Pavia. From here his life

began to improve for the better. In his free time he began to see a few patients unofficially

and started to develop a reputation as a marvellous physician. Most of his clients were

nobility, who claimed Cardano hailed “miraculous cures”(2). Despite this, Cardano was

once again refused admission into the College in 1536. This infuriated Cardano and he

foolishly decided to publish a book called “The Bad Practice of Medicine by Physicians”

which openly criticized the member o f the College:

The result o f tribal insecurities o f men who b anded themselves together and

showed to the world a surface o f pom p and learning that satisfactorily

concealed from the beholders the depth o f ignorance beneath. (7)

After a few years, Cardano’s reputation as a good physician grew dramatically. Eventually it

becam e so widespread that with considerable pressure from the local nobles the College did

finally grant him admission. Cardano’s career began to flourish.

Aside from a successful medical practice, Cardano spent a significant amount of time pursing

other fields of interest. In 1545 he published what is considered his greatest work - Ars

Mag na (The Great Art) - that explained how to solve cubic equations by using radicals (2).

This is considered one of the greatest mathematical works to emerge from the Renaissance,

but it too is not without controversy. It is alleged that Cardano stole this method from a close

friend Niccolo Tartaglia. It is said that Tartaglia revealed his theory to Cardano one night,

but only after making Cardano swear an oath:

I swear to you by G od’s holy Gospels, and as a true man o f honour,

not only never to pub lish your discoveries, i f you teach me them,

but I also promise you, and I pledge m y faith as a true Christian, to





note them down in code, so that after my death no one will be able to understand

them. (3)

Despite this oath, Cardano proceeded to publish Tartaglia’s method. In his defence, it is

thought that Tartaglia did invent the method but did not truly understand why it worked or its

applications in the more advanced way that Cardano did. Also, Cardano claimed that the

method had been developed a number of years earlier by a man called Scipione del Ferro,

and therefore he felt justified in breaking his oath to Tartaglia (3). Although Cardano

claimed innocence his betrayal o f Tartaglia came back to haunt him in later years.

After the death of his wife Lucia in 1546 Cardano entered into a period of great prosperity.

His books became bestsellers. He was appointed Rector of the Medical College in Milan and

earned the reputation of “best doctor (and even best scientist) in the world”(3). During this

time he was offered many prestigious positions as court physician, as mentioned earlier, for

people such as Pope Gregory XII and Charles the V, all of which Cardano declined. One of

the more lucrative offers was from the King of Denmark. He offered Cardano a very large

annual wage in addition to living expenses, five personal servants and three horses (3).

Cardano quickly declined this offer, however, because o f Denmark’s inhospitable climate.

Cardano did accept one position in 1552 for the Archbishop of St. Andrew in Scotland (6).

The Archbishop was near death and desperate for a cure for his severe asthma. Cardano’s

fame preceded his arrival, and upon setting foot in Scotland he was treated as a celebrity.

Whether by luck or intelligence Cardano quickly discovered that the bishop’s ailing health

was due to a feather allergy. He replaced the Archbishop’s down-filled pillows and

mattresses with silk spun ones. Within two months the Archbishop had a complete and

“miraculous” recovery (3). Although the Archbishop pleaded for Cardano to remain on as

court physician, he returned to Italy and to his medical practice and professorship. Before

leaving, however, Cardano did gain the favour o f the Archbishop who promised his help to

Cardano in any way he may need in the future.

Cardano’s success continued for the next few years until 1557- the year that marked the

beginning of the end. It began with troubles with his eldest son, Giambatista. Giambatista

was the treasure o f Cardano’s life. He followed in his father’s footsteps and became a

medical doctor in 1557(3). After graduation he met a woman called Brandoni di Seroni,

whom Cardano loathed and called “a worthless, shameless woman”(6). Despite his father’s

objections, Giambatista married Brandoni and they moved in with her parents. The di Seroni

family began to extort the Cardano’s for money as the wealth and influence of Jerome

Cardano was well known. In addition Brandoni was an unloving and unfaithful wife. She

bore Giambatista three children, yet claimed that they were not his. Eventually, the di

Seroni’s drove Giambatista over the edge and he poisoned his wife (3). He was arrested,

confessed to his crime, and despite the resources of his father was convicted of murder. He

was sentenced to death. The only hope to save his life was to pay the di Seroni’s an

enormous sum o f money, the likes of which even Jerome Cardano did not come close to

possessing. Despite his greates t efforts on April 13, 1560, Jerome’s son was executed (6).

Proceedings of the 12h Annual History of Medicine Days ~ 4 4 ~




Jerome was tortured by the fact that even with all his money and power he could not save his

son’s life. Also, his battle to save his son turned public opinion against him. Cardano was

now the father of a convicted murderer. With his life once more in shambles, he abandoned

his post in Milan and moved to Bologna, where he took up a post of professor of medicine

(2).

Despite the move things did not improve for Cardano. Enter Aldo, Cardano’s youngest son.

Aldo was a compulsive gambler who possessed the base character of his father and

grandfather. In 1959 Aldo gambled away all his possessions in addition to a large sum of his

father’s money. In a move of desperation, Aldo broke into his father’s home and stole as

much money and valuable items as he could find. Cardano discovered that Aldo was

responsible for the burglary and reported him to the local authorities (2). Aldo was banished

from Bologna. Jerome Cardano had created another enemy.

In 1570 Cardano was questioned and imprisoned by the Inquisition. He was arrested for a

number of reasons but primarily because he cast the horoscope of Jesus in which he

attributed the events o f Jesus’ life to cosmology rather than divinity, and because he didn’t

use Roman numerals in his algebraic publications (7). However, it is likely that he wouldn’t

have been imprisoned had it not been for his son Aldo and Tartaglia. They collected

evidence against Jerome and repeatedly disclosed incriminating details to the Inquisition in

order to get revenge. In return for his disclosure, Aldo was rewarded by being appointed to

the position o f public torturer and executioner for the Bologna Inquisition (7).

Cardano’s imprisonment only lasted a few weeks as he was granted a favour from the

Archbishop of St. Andrews, whom he had cured of asthma years earlier. The Archbishop

appealed for Cardano’s release to the Pope with the words “For he is a scholar who troubles

only with preserving and curing bodies in which God’s soul may live to their greatest

length”(7).

As he predicted through astrology (to the day) nearly thirty years earlier, Jerome Cardano

died poor and alone in Rome on September 21, 1576, at the age of 75(3). However, keeping

true to form he managed to make this moribund prediction come true by committing suicide.

And thus ended the tumultuous life of a controversial, bitters and perhaps ingenious man.

References

1. Shumaker, Wayne. Renaissance Curiosa. Birminham, N.Y. Center for Medieval and Early RenaissanceStudies. 1982. p 53-90.

2. J J O'Connor and E F Robertson. Girolamo Cardano. http://www-gap.dcs.st- and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Cardan.html. Accessed: Nov. 15, 2002.

3. Richard S. Westfall. Cardano, Girolamo. Catalog of the Scientific Community.http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/Catalog/Files/cardano.html. Accessed: Nov 15, 2002.

4. Cardano, Girolamo. The Book of games of chance (Liber de ludo alease). New York. 1961.5. Ashworth, Allan. Cardano’s Solution. 1999.

http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/Catalog/Files/cardano.html. Accessed: Nov. 15, 2002.



http://www-gap.dcs.st-/

http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/Catalog/Files/cardano.html




http://www-gap.dcs.st-/



6. Cardan, Jerome. The Book of My Life (De Vita Propria Liber). London. 1931.7. Wykes, Alan. Physician extraordinaire. Frederick Muller Ltd. 1965.8. http://www.bartleby.com/65/ca/Cardano.html. Accessed: Nov 16, 2002.9. Cardan, Jerome (ca 1546). De Musica. Published as Hieronymi Cardani Mediolensis opera omnia, Sonius,

Lyons (1663); transl. & ed. with an introduction by C.A. Miller as Hieronymus Cardanus, Writings on Music, American Institute of Musicology, Rome (1973).

Additional Contributions

• As mentioned in the essay Cardano wrote 233 works on many topics including medicine, math physics, philosophy, religion, music and astrology. His most famous works are(3):

- De ledo aleae, The Book on Games of Chance (1520)- The Bad Practice of Medicine by Physicians (1536)- the book in which Cardano openly criticized

the College of Physicians in Milan- Artis magnae sive de regulis algebraicis liber unus (1545)-The book that caused a flurry of

controversy due to alleged plagiarism- De Subtilitate (1550) and De rerum varitate (1557)- treatises on physics, mechanics, cosmology and

various occult sciences- De Vita Propria Liber (1575)- An autobiography, one of the first to ever be published

• Invented the Cardan shaft that is used today in rear wheel drive cars. It absorbs the vertical movement of thevehicle, which provides a smoother ride and better efficiency (2).

• Developed the first mathematical theory of probability and risk. Cardan used this to improve his chances ingambling, but it was later used by banking houses to calculate the odds of return of investment for tradingcompanies. This method is still used in commercial business (3).

• Invented Gimbal suspension, which is a device with two independent concentric rings free to turn aroundtheir respective axis. They are used to help to determine navigational position on a ship regardless of pitching (2).

• Was the first to publish a method to solve cubic equations using radicals. This method is referred to as“Cardano’s Solution” today. During his time it was practically useless, but became valuable later during thedevelopment of quantum and electrical physics (5).

• Wrote about the idea of evolution (creation as natural development) 300 years before “Origin of Species”(8)• Developed several theories in geology such as erosion and the cycling of water (2)

• Developed “Metoscopy”, which is the art of interpreting the character and destiny of a person by the lines intheir forehead (6)

• Improved the idea of the “camera obscura” by adding a lens• In the field of mechanics, he was the first to prove the impossibility of perpetual motion (6)• Helped develop the technique of “bell stopping”, used today by bagpipers (9)

Proceedings of the 12h Annual History of Medicine Days ~ 46WA Whitelaw - March 2003

http://www.bartleby.com/65/ca/Cardano.html

http://www.bartleby.com/65/ca/Cardano.html

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Lanette Prediger - The rise and fall of Jerome Cardano