Tartaglia: Italian Engineering Roots

One of the first Italian figures I came across in the Encyclopedia (remember those?) back when I was a teenager was the mathematician and engineer Niccolo Tartaglia. I may have posted about him in the past but hey.

Tartaglia discussed the trajectory of projectiles in Nova Scientia.

Otherwise known as the science of ballistics.

From Sciencephoto Library (link above):

"Tartaglia's artillery book. Frontispiece to the 1550 second edition of 'Nova Scientia' (New Knowledge, or New Science) by the Italian mathematician and engineer Niccolo Fontana Tartaglia (1499-1557). This work, on the trajectory of projectiles, was first published in 1537. The allegorical artwork shows Euclid (lower centre) admitting students to the circle of knowledge, which includes a mortar and cannon (left), and figures representing Tartaglia and disciplines such as arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy, and astrology. The upper circle, flanked by coats-of-arms, contains Aristotle, Plato, and an enthroned philosophy figure. The text is in Latin."