The Unattainable Attempt to Avoid the Casus Irreducibilis for Cubic Equations

Sara Confalonieri presents an overview of Cardanos mathematical treatises and, in particular, discusses the writings that deal with cubic equations. The author gives an insight into the latest of Cardanos algebraic works, the De Regula Aliza (1570), which displays the attempts to overcome the difficulties entailed by the casus irreducibilis. Notably some of Cardano's strategies in this treatise are thoroughly analyzed. Far from offering an ultimate account of De Regula Aliza, by one of the most outstanding scholars of the 16th century, the present work is a first step towards a better understanding.