Tartaglia's Poem

Mnemonic

Tartaglia's poem is a mnemonic for the solution of the cubic equation:

When the cube and its things near

Add to a new number, discrete

Determine two new numbers different

By that one; this feat

Will be kept as a rule

Their product always equal, the same

To the cube of a third

Of the number of things named.

Then, generally speaking

The remaining amount

Of the cube roots subtracted

Will be our desired count.

Source of Name

This entry was named for Niccolò Fontana Tartaglia.