Cardano, Girolamo (1501-1576)

Italian physician, mathematician, philosopher, astrologer, and gambler. He is remembered for his theory of chance, his use of algebra, and many medical publications, notably the first clinical description of typhus fever.

Born in Pavia, he became professor of medicine there in 1543, and wrote two works on physics and natural science, De Subtilitate Rerum (1551) and De Varietate Rerum (1557).