Tartaglia's Eulogy

When Giovan Galeazzo, Duke of Milan, was dead, and Lodovico Sforza became duke in the year 1494, Ludovico Sforza gave assignments to Leonardo and supported him financially. His early assignments were to “execute pageants, plan the completion of the cathedral, plan irrigation projects, and design a statue of Sforza” (Da Vinci Paints, 1) While in Milan, he painted his first “masterpiece”,

The culture of Tuscany during the renaissance was distinguished by its fine arts caused by the Roman Empire taking over of Constantinople, which brought Greek knowledge of math, science, architecture, and the arts to the Tuscan region. In this particular time period, (1429-1519) if it were not for the introduction of new understandings in math and science, the Tuscans would not have had the advancements in art and architecture we use to this day. To further expand on this topic, we must look into additional aspects of Tuscany's culture including geography, work, folkways, and religion.

Suddenly the voice of Antonia, the Latin woman from the third door, echoed in my head: A toad! In my country, that is not a good; it means there bad spirits inside.

In favor of the influence created by the early Renaissance artists, the Renaissance flourished under the great artists and architects of the High Renaissance. As an architect, Brunelleschi, who was not necessarily a High Renaissance architect, created a large impact on the architects of that time period, being one of the first to create a Roman style of architect. Although most of them were started in the mid 1400’s, many of his works were not finished until the late 1400’s, when many people took up to his ideals. Because of Brunelleschi, architecture and art could be mathematically calculated through the use of his most commonly known creation, linear perspective (“Renaissance”). On the opposite end, a venetian artist by the name of Titian was known for his findings on producing breathtaking spectrums and variants of

Leonhard Euler was a pastor’s child, born on April 15, 1707 in Basel Switzerland to Protestant minister Paul and his wife Marguerite, who was also a pastor’s daughter ("Leonhard Euler."). Leonhard’s family moved to the nearby town of Riehen when he was only one year old, and his father taught him basic mathematics from an early age. Ironically, his first school in Basel did not teach him mathematics. Due to his father’s early instruction, however, Leonhard was inspired to read and study the subject on his own time (O'Conner). He also began tutoring under renowned mathematician Johann Bernoulli, who was a family friend of the Eulers. At age 17, he graduated the University of Basel with a Masters of Arts degree. Although Leonhard began studying

When looking back into the past, we may not recount our exact memories, or look upon events the same way. But if these recollections were influential, or even life-changing, the memory may not cease from us. Ántonia was transformative in Jim Burden’s life on the prairie, and because of this, Jim never forgot the memories he made while growing up with Ántonia since the day he met her.

Pythagoras and his followers were so famous and admired in Italy, that other cities invited them to consult with them as to their way of thinking and of their administration. As might be expected, however, they experienced resentment, and a conspiracy was then formed against them.

In 1588 a bit right before 24 year old Galileo Gallilei got the position as an instructor of math at the University of Pisa, he was invited to present a lecture. The lecture that Galileo decided he would do was Dante’s Inferno. This lecture revolved around mathematically being able to map Dante’s route to hell

In 1840 Florence begged her parents to let her study mathematics. Her mother did not support her wishes and instead wanted her to marry and for her to perform home duties. Her

Descartes - 17th Century Mathematics - The Story of Mathematics. (n.d.). Retrieved June 11, 2016, from

René Descartes was born in 1596, in La Haye, France. He was the youngest of three children, and his mother, Jeanne Brochard, died only a year after his birth, and his father, Joachim Descartes, sent them to live with their grandmother and great-uncle. Even after Joachim remarried a few years later, they remained there. Although Joachim may not have been a major presence in his children’s lives, he placed great value on education, and René was sent to the Jesuit College of Henri IV in La Fleche, a neighboring province, at age eight. He remained there for seven years, learning primarily about rhetoric, logic, and mathematics. At that time, the “mathematical arts” included everything from music, astronomy,

Born in 1478 in Castlefranco Veneto, Italy, very little is known about his life. His parents are not known, and we don’t know how he lived his life. He did..basically nothing for the first 20 years of his life until it was discovered that he could paint pretty decently. He became the apprentice to Giovanni Bellini. Later he founded the Venetian school of Italian Renaissance painting along with Titian. This school was known for expressing emotions through the color and mood of a piece. It was a sharp contrast to the traditional linear style of painting that dominated the field of art at this time period. He is most famously known for being one of the first to paint people in landscapes.

Throughout my research of mathematicians, I realized that some mathematicians had different backgrounds and were from different time periods. The first mathematician, I will discuss goes by the name of Rene Descartes. First and foremost, according to the eBook, The 100 Most Influential Philosophers of All Time, Descartes came into this world in La Haye, Touraine, France on March 31, 1596. At the age of one his mother died and afterwards his father remarried leaving Descartes in La Haye to be raised by his maternal grandmother and then by his great uncle. During 1606 he got sent off to a Jesuit college. Soon after during 1614 Descartes went to Poitiers, where he pursued a law degree.

Maria Agnesi, the daughter and the eldest of 23 children of Pietro Agnesi was born in Italy on May 16, 1718, and died in 1799. She was born in a wealthy family so her father could afford the best of tutors for his daughter. Her field of study in mathematics was in Calculus (Riddle, n.d.). She was known as a child prodigy and by the age of nine, she could speak several languages. Higher education was not available for women so at the age of nine, she wrote a book defending women’s rights to be educated with the help of her tutor (Edelman, n.d.). She wanted to join a convent but her father would not let her. Her most famous contribution to mathematics was a book she wrote at the age of 20 called Analytical Institution. This book focused on

Maria Gaetana Agnesi was born on May 16, 1718 in Milan, Habsburg Empire, known today as Italy. She was Italian mathematician and a philosopher. Agnesi was born into a wealthy family, her father was a professor for the University of Bologna. Her father mainly encouraged her in her studies and provided the best tutors. At the age of five, she could speak Italian and French. A couple years later she learned Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, and German. And by fourteen she was already learning geometry and ballistics. According to an Encyclopedia article, her own father liked to show off her knowledge by organizing a gathering, “by establishing in his home a cultural salon where she could present theses on a variety of subjects and then defend them in academic disputations with leading scholars (Kramer, n.d.)”.