The Babylonians (about 2000 B.C.)knew how to solve specific quadratic equations. The solution formula for solving the quadratic equations was mentioned in the Bakshali Manuscript written in India between 200 BC and 400 AD. Based on the work of Scipione del Ferro and Nicolo Tartaglia,Cardano published the solution formula for solving the cubic equations in his book Ars Magna (1545). Lodovico Ferrari,a student of Cardano discovered the solution formula for the quartic equations in 1540 (published in Ars Magna later). The formulae for the cubic and quartic are complicated,and the methods to derive them seem ad hoc and not memorable.• The Babylonians (about 2000 B.C.) knew how to solve specific quadratic equations. • The solution formula for solving the quadratic equations was mentioned in the Bakshali Manuscript written in India between 200 BC and 400 AD. • Based on the work of Scipione del Ferro and Nicolo Tartaglia, Cardano published the solution formula for solving the cubic equations in his book Ars Magna (1545). • Lodovico Ferrari, a student of Cardano discovered the solution formula for the quartic equations in 1540 (published in Ars Magna later). • The formulae for the cubic and quartic are complicated, and the methods to derive them seem ad hoc and not memorable