Who is Carl Friedrich Gauss?

Carl Friedrich Gauss is German mathematician and physicist.

How did Carl Friedrich Gauss die?

Carl Friedrich Gauss passed away in 1855.

Carl Friedrich Gauss

Q: What is Carl Friedrich Gauss known for?

Carl Friedrich Gauss is primarily known as a(n) physicist, geophysicist, astronomer, statistician, surveyor, geodesist, mathematician, university teacher, science writer.

German mathematician and physicist

Born:April 30, 1777

Died:February 23, 1855

Age at death:77

Zodiac Sign:Taurus

Born in:Brunswick, Germany

Residence:Königreich Hannover

Buried in:Germany

Languages:German, English, Latin, French

Physicist Geophysicist Astronomer Statistician Surveyor Geodesist Mathematician University Teacher Science Writer

Signature

Links

Wikipedia

Famous For

Notable Work

Gauss's lawnormal distributionGauss's law for magnetismGauss–Seidel methodDisquisitiones Arithmeticae

Books

Disquisitiones ArithmeticaeGauss's Easter algorithmתאוריה של תנועת הגופים השמימיים בחתכי חרוט סביב השמשCarl Friedrich Gauss LetterGeneral investigations of curved surfaces of 1827 and 1825

Awards

Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art (1853)Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts order (1842)honorary member of the Physics Association (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) (1839)Copley Medal (1838)Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1822)

Carl Friedrich Gauss

German mathematician and physicist

Biography

Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss ( ; German: Gauß; 30 April 1777 – 23 February 1855) was a German mathematician, astronomer, geodesist, and physicist, who contributed to many fields in mathematics and science. His mathematical contributions spanned the branches of number theory, algebra, analysis, geometry, statistics, and probability. Gauss was director of the Göttingen Observatory in Germany and professor of astronomy from 1807 until his death in 1855. From an early age, Gauss was known as a child prodigy in mathematics. While studying at the University of Göttingen, he propounded several mathematical theorems. As an independent scholar, he wrote the masterpieces Disquisitiones Arithmeticae and Theoria motus corporum coelestium. Gauss produced the second and third complete proofs of the fundamental theorem of algebra. He also introduced the triple bar symbol (≡) for congruence. In number theory, he made numerous contributions, such as the composition law, the law of quadratic reciprocity, and proved the triangular case of the Fermat polygonal number theorem. He also contributed to the theory of binary and ternary quadratic forms, and the theory of hypergeometric series. When Gauss was only 19 years old, he proved the construction of the heptadecagon, the first progress in regular polygon construction in over 2000 years. He also introduced the concept of Gaussian curvature and proved its key properties, especially with his Theorema Egregium. Gauss was the first to prove Gauss's inequality. Further, he was instrumental in the development of the arithmetic–geometric mean. He introduced the normal or Gaussian distribution in probability. Due to Gauss's extensive and fundamental contributions to science and mathematics, more than 100 mathematical and scientific concepts are named after him. Gauss was instrumental in the identification of Ceres as a dwarf planet. His work on the motion of planetoids disturbed by large planets led to the introduction of the Gaussian gravitational constant and the method of least squares, which he had discovered before Adrien-Marie Legendre published it. Gauss also introduced the algorithm known as recursive least squares. Gauss led the geodetic survey of the Kingdom of Hanover together with an arc measurement project from 1820 to 1844; Gauss was one of the founders of geophysics and formulated the fundamental principles of magnetism. He provided the first absolute measurement of Earth's magnetic field in 1832, later applying one of his inventions, that of spherical harmonic analysis, to show that most of Earth's magnetic field was internal. He was the first to discover and study non-Euclidean geometry, which he also named. Gauss was the first to develop a fast Fourier transform, doing so some 160 years before John Tukey and James Cooley. His practical work led to the invention of the heliotrope in 1821, a magnetometer in 1833 and – with Wilhelm Eduard Weber – the first electromagnetic telegraph in 1833. Gauss was awarded the Lalande Prize in 1809 for his work on planetary theory and determination of orbits, and the Copley Medal in 1838 for his mathematical research in magnetism. He is known for not publishing incomplete work and left several works to be edited posthumously, as a result; this practice delayed the dissemination of many of his discoveries. He believed that the act of learning, not possession of knowledge, provided the greatest enjoyment. While Gauss was not a committed or enthusiastic teacher, generally preferring to focus on his own work, some of his students, such as Richard Dedekind and Bernhard Riemann, became well-known and influential mathematicians in their own right. He married twice and had six children, several of whom later emigrated to the United States.

This biography uses content from the Wikipedia article “Carl Friedrich Gauss”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

Photos

Portrait of the mathematician and philosopher Carl Friedrich Gauss

Detalle del mural Si las paredes hablaran…de Economía de Ángel Idígoras del año 2022 en la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales de la Universidad de Málaga, campus de El Ejido, Málaga, España. Ángel Idígoras contó con la colaboración de Pablo Codes, Sonia Codes, Marta Rodríguez y Dani Codes para la realización del mural. En la imagen, de izquierda a derecha, Jean Tirole, Marjorie Grice-Hutchinson, José Luis Sampedro, Carl Friedrich Gauss y Milton Friedman. En el mural completo aparecen representados Esther Duflo, Abhijit Banerjee, Clive W. J. Granger, Joseph Schumpeter, Alfred Marshall, Amartya Sen, John Stuart Mill, Adam Smith, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, Rosa Luxemburgo, Joan Robinson, Milton Friedman, Carl Friedrich Gauss, José Luis Sampedro, Marjorie Grice-Hutchinson y Jean Tirole. También aparece representada la gata Cayetana Enriqueta de las Mercedes, una gata que desde hace varios años habita en los alrededores de la facultad. En una esquina del mural, se lee: «Asesores: Eugenio Luque y Lola Gª Crespo ~6-2-22». El mural se inauguró el 10 de junio de 2022.[1][2][3]

Detalle del mural Si las paredes hablaran…de Economía de Ángel Idígoras del año 2022 en la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales de la Universidad de Málaga, campus de El Ejido, Málaga, España. Ángel Idígoras contó con la colaboración de Pablo Codes, Sonia Codes, Marta Rodríguez y Dani Codes para la realización del mural. En la imagen, de izquierda a derecha, Jean Tirole, Marjorie Grice-Hutchinson, José Luis Sampedro y Carl Friedrich Gauss. En el mural completo aparecen representados Esther Duflo, Abhijit Banerjee, Clive W. J. Granger, Joseph Schumpeter, Alfred Marshall, Amartya Sen, John Stuart Mill, Adam Smith, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, Rosa Luxemburgo, Joan Robinson, Milton Friedman, Carl Friedrich Gauss, José Luis Sampedro, Marjorie Grice-Hutchinson y Jean Tirole. También aparece representada la gata Cayetana Enriqueta de las Mercedes, una gata que desde hace varios años habita en los alrededores de la facultad. En una esquina del mural, se lee: «Asesores: Eugenio Luque y Lola Gª Crespo ~6-2-22». El mural se inauguró el 10 de junio de 2022.[1][2]

Detalle del mural Si las paredes hablaran…de Economía de Ángel Idígoras del año 2022 en la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales de la Universidad de Málaga, campus de El Ejido, Málaga, España. Ángel Idígoras contó con la colaboración de Pablo Codes, Sonia Codes, Marta Rodríguez y Dani Codes para la realización del mural. En la imagen, de izquierda a derecha, José Luis Sampedro, Carl Friedrich Gauss y Milton Friedman. En el mural completo aparecen representados Esther Duflo, Abhijit Banerjee, Clive W. J. Granger, Joseph Schumpeter, Alfred Marshall, Amartya Sen, John Stuart Mill, Adam Smith, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, Rosa Luxemburgo, Joan Robinson, Milton Friedman, Carl Friedrich Gauss, José Luis Sampedro, Marjorie Grice-Hutchinson y Jean Tirole. También aparece representada la gata Cayetana Enriqueta de las Mercedes, una gata que desde hace varios años habita en los alrededores de la facultad. En una esquina del mural, se lee: «Asesores: Eugenio Luque y Lola Gª Crespo ~6-2-22». El mural se inauguró el 10 de junio de 2022.[1][2]

1857 copy of "Theory of the Motion of the Heavenly Bodies Moving about the Sun in Conic Sections: A Translation of Gauss's "Theoria Motus," translated to English by Charles Henry Davis. Copy located in the Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics, in College Park, Maryland.

Volumes II, V, VI and VIII of "Carl Friedrich Gauss Werke." Copies from 1876, 1867, 1874, and 1900, respectively. Copies located in the Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics, in College Park, Maryland.

Title page of a 1890 copy of Carl Gauss' "Theoria Motus Corporum Coelestium in sectionibus conicis solem ambientium." Copy located in the Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics, in College Park, Maryland.

First page of a 1890 copy of Carl Gauss' "Theoria Motus Corporum Coelestium in sectionibus conicis solem ambientium." Copy located in the Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics, in College Park, Maryland.

First page of Volume II of "Carl Friedrich Gauss Werke." Copies located in the Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics, in College Park, Maryland.