Carl Friedrich

Gauss

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CARL FRIEDRICH GAUSS is often ranked—along with Archimedes and Newton—as one of the greatest mathematicians in history.

Gauss earned his reputation as “prince of mathematics” at an early age. At 18 he invented the method of least squares and soon after proved that a 17-sided polygon is constructible using only a straightedge and a compass. In his doctoral thesis, Gauss proved the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra.

Gauss’s landmark work in differential geometry derived from his interest in surveying and mapmaking. He also made many other contributions to algebra, complex functions, and potential theory.

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Gauss’s landmark work in differential geometry derived from his interest in surveying and mapmaking. He also made many other contributions to algebra, complex functions, and potential theory.

Gauss wrote much more than he published. He kept files of many unpublished papers that he considered to be unfinished, inelegant, nonrigorous, or inconcise. Later readers of these papers have generally felt that Gauss was too critical of his own work. His unpublished papers covered work in two major fields: elliptic function theory and non-Euclidean geometry.

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In addition to mathematics, Gauss had a keen interest in the physical sciences, especially astronomy; he held an appointment as director of the Göttingen observatory for nearly 50 years. One of his best-known publications in this area is Theory of Motion of the Heavenly Bodies, published in 1809. Gauss also earned great distinction for his research on theoretical and experimental magnetism. He helped improve existing techniques in telegraphy and created a new model for handling optic problems.