A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft, propeller shaft, or Cardan shaft is a component for transmitting mechanical power, torque, and rotation, usually used to connect other components of a drivetrain that cannot be connected directly because of distance or the need to allow for relative movement between them.
Drive shaft with universal joints at each end and a spline in the centre
Škoda 422 rear axle, suspension and drive shaft on display at the Škoda Museum
A truck two section propeller shaft
The exposed drive shaft on BMW's first motorcycle, the R32
Gerolamo Cardano was an Italian polymath whose interests and proficiencies ranged through those of mathematician, physician, biologist, physicist, chemist, astrologer, astronomer, philosopher, writer, and gambler. He became one of the most influential mathematicians of the Renaissance and one of the key figures in the foundation of probability; he introduced the binomial coefficients and the binomial theorem in the Western world. He wrote more than 200 works on science.
17th-century portrait engraving of Cardano
De propria vita, 1821
Portrait of Cardano on display at the School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews
"Oneiron" ("Dream"), reverse of the medallion of Cardano by Leone Leoni, 1550–51