Fior and
dal Ferros secret
|
Fior was
far less good at keeping secrets than dal Ferro. In 1534 a rumor
started to circulate in Bologna that the cubic equation had been solved.
Nicolo of Brescia, known as Tartaglia meaning 'the
stammerer', prompted by the rumors managed to solve equations of the form: x3
+ mx = n and made no secret of his discovery. Fior
challenged Tartaglia to a public
contest: the rules being that each gave the other 30 problems with 40 or 50
days in which to solve them, the winner being the one to solve most of the
problems but a small prize was also offered for each problem. Not believing
that Tartaglia could solve this cubic, Fior challenged him to the contest
which was held in February, 1535. Tartaglia solved all Fior's problems,
for all the problems Fior had set were of the form x3
+ mx = n, a type that he believed Tartaglia would be unable to
solve. |