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Girolamo Cardano
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While Googling on another matter I chanced upon a short biographical sketch of Girolama Cardano a person I had never heard of before and found his life so interesting and eventful that I thought that I would give you a few items from his life . Cardano was a very unusual man. He was born in Padua Italy on 24 September 1501,. He was the illegitimate child of Fazio Cardano and Chiara Micheria.. He had three siblings all of whom died of the plague in childhood. Girolama grew up and attended the University of Padua where he eventually was awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He was during his lifetime a physician, a mathematician, an inventor, a gambler and an astrologer. Of all those skills he seems to have spent the greatest part of his time honing his skills as a gambler.
Cardano was married and had two sons and one daughter. His eldest son married badly and ended up poisoning his adulterous wife. He was convicted of this act and beheaded in Padua. His daughter sank into prostitution and was not heard from. His youngest son denounced Girolama to the Inquisitionn for publication of what was purported to be the astrological horoscope of Jesus Christ. The son requested to be appointed public executioner and that his father be subject to execution for this heresy. He was sentenced only to a short prison term which he served and was then released so the son did not get to officiate at his death.. So it appears that Girolama did not have a pleasant and tranquil life.
Cardano published a number of important and famous mathematical treatises. He also invented what we currently call "the universal joint" and invented the combination lock. By some means he returned to the good graces of the Church because he was rewarded by Pope Gregory XIII with an annuity for life. Cardanno died on 21 September 1576 which was the exact day he had predicted for his death in a publication issued thirty years prior. That he had committed suicide was suggested by many.
Since I had never heard of Girolama Cardano I felt that he had likewise escaped your notice and that you might want to know who it was that invented the universal joint and the combination lock. He was not a particularly enviable as a man but he did have an active life. One meets all kinds of people on Google.
Love
dad, granpa, ami
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