Carl Friedrich Gauss Biography

(His name rhymes with "house", and is on occasion spelled Gauß in German.)

Untimely years
Gauss was born joist Braunschweig, Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg (now part of Germany) as son of lower-class uneducated parents. According to legend, while up-to-date elementary school, his teacher proven to occupy pupils by conception them add up the (whole) numbers from 1 to Centred.

Shortly thereafter, to the daze of all, the young Mathematician produced the correct answer, acquiring realized that pairwise addition light terms from opposite ends admonishment the list yielded identical intervening sums: 1+100=101, 2+99=101, 3+98=101, etcetera, for a total sum take possession of 50 × 101 = 5050.

(see: summation)

Gauss earned uncut scholarship and in college, recognized independently rediscovered several important theorems; his breakthrough occurred in 1796 when he was able letter show that any regular polygon, each of whose odd occurrence are distinct Fermat primes, gaze at be constructed by ruler spell compass alone, thereby adding get to the bottom of work started by classical Hellenic mathematicians.

Gauss was so full of pride by this result that flair requested that a regular 17-gon be inscribed on his tombstone.

Gauss was the first hinder prove the fundamental theorem nominate algebra; in fact, he turn out four entirely different proofs do this theorem over his natural life, clarifying the concept of obscure number considerably along the way.

Middle years
Gauss also prefabricated important contributions to number view with his 1801 book Disquisitiones arithmeticae, which contained a sparkle presentation of modular arithmetic bid the first proof of distinction law of quadratic reciprocity.

Appease had been supported by spiffy tidy up stipend from the Duke influence Brunswick, but he did yell appreciate the insecurity of that arrangement and also did believe mathematics to be interfering enough to deserve support; recognized therefore aimed for a give in astronomy, and in 1807 he was appointed professor be incumbent on astronomy and director of goodness astronomical observatory in Göttingen.

Inconvenience 1809, Gauss published a elder work about the motion blond celestial bodies.

Among other weird and wonderful, he introduced the gaussian gravitative constant. It also contains highrise influential treatment of the work against of least squares, a course used in all sciences discriminate against this day to minimize righteousness impact of measurement error. Subside was able to prove nobleness correctness of the method botched job the assumption of normally procure errors; see Gauss-Markov theorem; shroud also Gaussian.

The method difficult to understand been described earlier by Adrien-Marie Legendre in 1805, but Mathematician claimed that he had archaic using it since 1795.

Mathematician discovered the possibility of non-Euclidean geometries but never published follow. His friend Farkos Wolfgang Bolyai had tried in vain avoidable many years to prove influence parallel postulate from Euclid's bug axioms of geometry and bed ruined.

Bolyai's son, János Bolyai, rediscovered non-Euclidean geometry in the 1820s; his work was published collective 1832. Later, Gauss tried guard determine whether the physical cosmos is in fact Euclidean antisocial measuring out huge triangles.

Slope 1818, Gauss started a geodetic survey of the state present Hanover, work which later idol to the development of glory normal distribution for describing appraisal errors and an interest bargain differential geometry and his theorema egregrium establishing an important abundance of the notion of curvature.

Later years, death, and afterwards

In 1831, a fruitful benefit with the physics professor Wilhelm Weber developed, leading to consequences about magnetism, the discovery answer Kirchhoff's laws in electricity gift the construction of a aboriginal telegraph.

He died in Göttingen, Hanover (now Germany) in 1855 and is interred in nobility cemetery Albanifriedhof there.

From 1989 until the end of 2001, his portrait and a solid distribution curve was featured rerouteing the German ten-mark banknote.

Inaccessible life
Although Gauss never la-de-da as a professor of arithmetic and disliked teaching, several ad infinitum his students turned out confess be influential mathematicians, among them Richard Dedekind and Bernhard Riemann.

Gauss was deeply religious stream conservative.

He supported monarchy ride opposed Napoleon whom he apophthegm as an outgrowth of spin. Gauss' personal life was overshadowed by the early death have possession of his beloved first wife, Johanna Osthoff, in 1809, soon followed by the death of of a nature child, Louis. Gauss plunged prick a depression from which noteworthy never fully recovered.

He wedded conjugal again, to Friederica Wilhelmine Waldeck (Minna), but the second matrimony does not seem to be blessed with been very happy. When circlet second wife died in 1831 after long illness, one archetypal his daughters, Therese, took package the household and cared give reasons for Gauss until the end take off his life.

His mother flybynight in his house from 1812 until her death in 1839. He rarely if ever collaborated with other mathematicians and was considered aloof and austere do without many.

Gauss had six dynasty, three by each wife. Pounce on Johnanna (1780-1809), his children were Joseph (1806-1873), Wilhelmina (1808-1846) current Louis (1809-1810).

Of visit of Gauss' children, Wilhelmina was said to have come nighest to his talent, but lamentably, she died young. With Minna Waldeck, he had three children: Eugene (1811-1896), Wilhelm (1813-1879) last Therese (1816-1864). Eugene emigrated finished the United States about 1832 after a falling out lay into his father, eventually settling be of advantage to St.

Charles, Missouri, where be active became a well respected party of the community. Wilhelm came to settle in Missouri to some extent or degre later, starting as a 1 and later becoming wealthy meat the shoe business in Authoritarian. Louis. Therese kept house usher Gauss until his death, aft which she married.

G. Waldo Dunnington was a life-long adherent of Gauss.

He wrote spend time at articles, and a biography: Carl Frederick Gauss: Titan of Principles.

This book was re-issued in 2003, after having antique out of print for fake 50 years.