Karl Friedrich Gauß

Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777 - 1855) Photo: German Museum Munich

Carl Friedrich Gauss came from a poor family. His father was a bricklayer. As a 19-year-old student in Goettingen, he came up with the idea of a 17-sided polygon, drawn with a compass and a ruler. In 1801, he proved the modern number theory. After the discovery of the planetoid Ceres by an Italian, Gauss developed a new method to calculate the orbit, therefore enabling the planetoid to be found again. This discovery made him famous. He married Johanna Osthoff in 1805, fathering three children. From 1807, he was professor for astronomy and director of the observatory in Goettingen. His fields of work encompassed geodesy and optics. Gauss made important contributions to the study of magnetism. Since the discovery of electromagnetism by Oersted, in 1820, thermoelectricity by Seebeck in 1821, and electromagnetic induction by Faraday in 1831, a close link between the study of magnetism and the study of electricity developed. Marrying for a second time, he was widowed, his wife leaving behind two children, Eugen and Wilhelm. His friendship with the scientist Wilhelm Weber (1804-1891; the unit of measurement for magnetic currents is named after him Wb) provided him with the strength to carry on with his life. Gauss possessed a great passion for Russian literature, being able to read it in the original language. He was an extremely sensitive person, easily hurt, often doubting himself. Gauss' greatest find was his pupil, Bernhard Riemann (1826-1866), who carried on the ideas of his teacher ("Principles for a General Theory of the Functions of Complex Variables").