Carl friedrich gauss biography summary template

Carl friedrich gauss interesting facts

Template:Infobox Scientist Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss Template:IPAEng , Template:Audio , Template:Lang-de , Template:Lang-la 30 April — 23 February was a German mathematician and scientist who contributed significantly to many fields, including number theory , statistics , analysis , differential geometry , geodesy , electrostatics , astronomy , and optics.

Sometimes known as the princeps mathematicorum [ 1 ] Latin , usually translated as "the Prince of Mathematicians", although Latin princeps also can simply mean "the foremost" and "greatest mathematician since antiquity", Gauss had a remarkable influence in many fields of mathematics and science and is ranked as one of history's most influential mathematicians.

Gauss was a child prodigy , of whom there are many anecdotes pertaining to his astounding precocity while a mere toddler, and made his first ground-breaking mathematical discoveries while still a teenager. He completed Disquisitiones Arithmeticae , his magnum opus , in at the age of 21, though it would not be published until This work was fundamental in consolidating number theory as a discipline and has shaped the field to the present day.

Another famous story, and one that has evolved in the telling, has it that in primary school his teacher, J. The young Gauss reputedly produced the correct answer within seconds, to the astonishment of his teacher and his assistant Martin Bartels. His father had wanted him to follow in his footsteps and become a mason. He was not supportive of Gauss's schooling in mathematics and science.

While in university, Gauss independently rediscovered several important theorems; [ citation needed ] his breakthrough occurred in when he was able to show that any regular polygon with a number of sides which is a Fermat prime and, consequently, those polygons with any number of sides which is the product of distinct Fermat primes and a power of 2 can be constructed by compass and straightedge.

This was a major discovery in an important field of mathematics; construction problems had occupied mathematicians since the days of the Ancient Greeks , and the discovery ultimately led Gauss to choose mathematics instead of philology as a career. Gauss was so pleased by this result that he requested that a regular heptadecagon be inscribed on his tombstone.