Heron of Alexandria

Heron (or Hero) of Alexandria who lived around 10–85 AD was a mathematician, physicist and engineer who lived in the Hellenistic times in Alexandria, Egypt, at that time part of the Roman empire. Heron of Alexandria was an important geometer and worker in mechanics.

Heron was a teacher and researcher at the Musaeum of Alexandria, the famous library and university in Alexandria. Some of his writings are elaborate textbooks, others are lecture manuscripts in style.

The complete works of Heron represent something like an encyclopedia of applied mathematics and engineering sciences of the Greco-Roman era. His best known mathematical work is the formula for the area of a triangle in terms of the lengths of its sides. One of his most famous inventions was an experiment done as part of the earliest instance of harnessing wind energy on land.

He is said to have philosophies related to atomists, which he discussed in his work Mechanics. He also described pantographs.

Many scholars believe that not only he taught at the Musaeum of Alexandria, but that in addition he served as its Director and that he developed it as the first Polytechnic School, or Technical Institute.

He was made famous for documenting the first steam turbine, the aelolipile. He also invented many mechanisms for temples and theaters while he advanced or improved inventions by others, for example the hydraulis, originally invented by Ktesibius.

His most important invention was the Aeolipile, the first steam turbine. Other inventions include automated machines for temples and theaters, surveying instruments, and military machines and weapons.
Heron of Alexandria

Lodovico Ferrari (2 February 1522 – 5 October 1565)

Lodovico Ferrari was an Italian mathematician, was the first to find an algebraic solution to the biquadratic or quartic equation.  Honorably named and little more, of he died young and left no written works behind him.

Born in Bologna, Italy, Lodovico's grandfather, Bartholomew Ferrari, was forced out of Milan to Bologna. Lodovico settled in Bologna, Italy.

He came to Gerolamo Cardano as a youth in November 30, 1536 and Cardano has described that day with a lot of enthusiasm in his writing.  Ferrari was fourteen when he started working in the household of Cardano.

He was extremely bright. He was a boy of very extraordinary natural ability, so Cardano treated him first like a disciple and then as collaborator.

By attending Cardano’s lectures, Ferrari learned Latin, Greek and mathematics.  At the age of eighteen Ferrari was able to obtain a prestigious teaching post after Cardano resigned from it and recommended him.

Ferrari aided Cardano on his solutions for quadratic equations and cubic equations, and was mainly responsible for the solution of quartic equations that Cardano published in Ars magna (1545; Great Art).

The publication of Ars magna brought Ferrari into a celebrated controversy with the noted Italian mathematician Niccolo Tartaglia over the solution of the cubic equation.

He was twenty years old when he contested publicly with Zuanne da Coi and Tartaglia: Tartaglia declares in his own book that he, Tartaglia, was left the victor: Cardano states that Ferrari overcame them both and appeals confidently, in support of his assertion, to the public records then extant and the common understanding in the town.

Two years afterwards the brilliant young scholar was held in so much esteem, that the possession of his services was contended for by the great men around him.

Ferrari eventually retired young (only 42) and quite rich.  He then moved back to his home town of Bologna where he lived with his widowed sister Maddalena to take up a professorship in mathematics at the University of Bologna in 1565, where he died shortly thereafter due to white arsenic poisoning.

Ferrari death was a pro-found loss to Cardano. Cardano wrote an account of Ferrari’s life and achievements and acknowledge that he had no more loyal friend and co-worker.
Lodovico Ferrari (2 February 1522 – 5 October 1565)

Brahmagupta

Brahmagupta is a renowned astronomer and mathematician of the seventh century. It was he who taught the Arabs astronomy before they became acquainted with Ptolemy. Brahmagupta was born in Ujjain, India in 598 AD.

Brahmagupta worked in the great astronomical center of Hindu science, Ujjain, a town in the state o Gwalior, Central India, said to have been the vice-regal seat of Asoka during his father reign at Patna.

His famous text Brahmasphutasiddhanta (The opening of the universe). Brahmasphutasiddhanta is Brahmagupta most important work. It is a standard treatise on ancient India astronomy. 

Brahmasphutasiddhanta composed in 628 Ad contains twenty five chapters including Dhyanagrahopadesadhyaya, is also observed by Al-Biruni – Muslim scholar and polymath of the 11th century.

The first 10 chapters pertain solely to astronomy, discussing the longitude of the planets, lunar and solar and solar eclipses and the timing alignments.

Chapter 7 is on mathematics. It deals with elementary arithmetic, algebra and geometry.

Brahmagupta goes on to describe the decimal place value system use in India. He permits zero as a valid number in all of his computations. Brahmagupta genius made use of mathematics in providing better astronomical methods.

George Sarton, the founder of the disciple of historian of science called him ‘one of the greatest scientist of his race and the greatest of his time’.

He died in 665 AD
Brahmagupta