Zuanne de Tonini da Coi
| Zuanne de Tonini da Coi | |
|---|---|
| Born | Brescia |
| Other names | Zuane dal Colle; Giovanni del Colle |
| 💼 Occupation | Teacher |
| Known for | Proposing cubic-equation problems to Tartaglia |
Zuanne de Tonini da Coi also written as di Tonini, and sometimes cited as Zuane dal Colle and Giovanni del Colle,[1] was a 15th- and 16th-century Italian teacher from Brescia who was interested in solving mathematical problems. In 1530, he proposed two problems involving cubic equations to Tartaglia, which Tartaglia did not yet know how to solve.[2]
Biography
In 1530, da Coi contacted Tartaglia, who had been born in Brescia and was then living in Verona, through Messer Antonio da Cellatico, asking him to solve two cubic equations of the following form in modern notation:[3]
- and
This encounter was narrated by Tartaglia himself in his work Quesiti, or Questions, published in 1546 following the later dispute between Tartaglia and Gerolamo Cardano over authorship of the solution of the cubic equation.
Ten years later, it was da Coi who aroused Cardano's interest in cubic equations in Milan, and who informed him about the mathematical contest in which Tartaglia had defeated Antonio Del Fiore in 1535.[2] In a letter dated 5 January 1540, Cardano informed Tartaglia that Zuanne dal Colle had returned to Milan, where he was boasting that he had discovered the solution of the cubic equation found by Tartaglia, and that Zuanne had argued in Venice with Del Fiore, where he had asserted his supposed authorship.[1] This letter, possibly reconstructed after 1545, served Cardano as a justification for claiming that the solution of the cubic equation was not exclusive to Tartaglia. This ultimately allowed him to free himself from the promise he had made to Tartaglia to keep the discovery secret until Tartaglia himself made it public.[2] When Lodovico Ferrari, Cardano's collaborator, publicly challenged Tartaglia to a mathematical contest in Venice in 1547, the announcement was sent to fifteen important mathematicians of the period, but neither da Coi nor Del Fiore appeared on the list.[4]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 AKW 2004, p. 154.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Tartaglia", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews.
- ↑ AKW 2004, p. 155.
- ↑ AKW 2004, p. 160.
Bibliography
- Anderson, Marlow; Katz, Victor; Wilson, Robin, eds. (2004). Sherlock Holmes in Babylon: And Other Tales of Mathematical History. Mathematical Association of America. p. 387. ISBN 9780883855461. Retrieved 4 January 2020. Search this book on
External links
- Tartaglia versus Cardano
- O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Tartaglia", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews.
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