1465-1526

Italian Mathematician

Scipione dal Ferro left behind no published writings, and were it not for papers found after his death, his role in unlocking one of the key mathematical challenges of his day might never be known. At the time, mathematicians were struggling with the solution to third-power equations, and the frustration associated with the quest had prompted Luca Pacioli (1445-1517) to suggest that such a solution was impossible. Unbeknownst to his colleagues, however, dal Ferro had found a way to solve such problems, but he kept this knowledge to himself.

The son of Floriano, a papermaker, and Filippa dal Ferro—the family name is sometimes rendered as Ferreo, Ferro, and del Ferro—dal Ferro was born in Bologna on February 6, 1465. He probably attended the University of Bologna, Europe's oldest institution of higher education; but other than this supposition, virtually nothing is known...