Cardano, Girolamo

From Philosopedia

Cardano, Girolamo (1501—1576) Cardano, better known as Jerome Cardan, was an Italian mathematician and physician. He was excluded from the Milan College of Physicians because of his illegitimate birth, at which time he and his young wife were compelled to take refuge in the workhouse. Understandably, his first work was an exposure of the fallacies of that faculty. In 1563 he was arrested for heresy, was released, and was deprived of his professorship. Despite some superstition, Cardano is said to have done much to forward science, especially by his work on algebra. Scaliger accused him of atheism. Pünjer says, “Cardanus deserves to be named along with Telesius as one of the principal founders of natural philosophy.” On September 20th, 1576, he is said to have starved himself in order to verify his own prediction of his death at that time. {BDF}