Cardano, on luck and maths.

His life in a few wordsGerolamo Cardano was born in 1501 in Pavie (Italy). He was a

mathematician, a physicist and mechanic.

His father, Facio Cardano was a famous mathematician, who was a friend of Leonardo Da Vinci.

Early, he learned math with his father. Then, he went at Pavie University and after, studied medicine at Padoue.

In 1534, he taught math in a university in Milan.

Then, he decided to play games and study probabilities.

He's famous because of his gimbals and

for his book : « Arts magna ».

He died in 1576 in Roma. (probably, he straved to death)

Gimbals

Gimbals transmits power from the engine to the wheels

Cardano, a great player.During his life, Cardano spend many time to

play. He loved gambling. For exemple, he bet his wife's jewelry...

Mostly, he played with dice. And, he did many experiences with that.

He dressed a table for recapitulate the possible combinations.

Here the picture :

Ahead of his time...

Cardano was very intelligent.. He « discovered » something which was explain many years later.

He approximately found the law of large numbers..

He said : « When you throw a dice many times ( thousand or two thousand times), at the end, you can say that each number can almost appear the same number of time. »

Bibliography● Internet :● www.wikipédia● www.apophtegme.● www.scribd.

● Dictionnary :● Le petit Robert, 2009

Maureen DUPUISLycée Saint-Exupéry,

Seconde 1.