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Born
Carl Friedrich Gauss was born April 30, 1777, in Brunswick, Germany. He published over 150 works and made such important contributions as the fundamental theorem of algebra, the least squares method, Gauss-Jordan elimination, and the bell curve, or Gaussian error curve. He also made important contributions to physics and astronomy. -
7 years old, a wonder boy
At the age of seven, Carl Friedrich Gauss started elementary school, and his potential was noticed almost immediately. His teacher, Büttner, and his assistant, Martin Bartels, were amazed when Gauss summed the integers from 1 to 100 instantly by spotting that the sum was 50 pairs of numbers each pair summing to 101. -
Began his education at the Gymnasium
In 1788 Gauss began his education at the Gymnasium with the help of Büttner and Bartels, where he learnt High German and Latin. -
Bode's law, binomial theorem and prime number theorem
After receiving a stipend from the Duke of Brunswick- Wolfenbüttel, Gauss entered Brunswick Collegium Carolinum in 1792. At the academy Gauss independently discovered Bode's law, the binomial theorem and the arithmetic- geometric mean, as well as the law of quadratic reciprocity and the prime number theorem. -
Entering at Göttingen University
In 1795 Gauss left Brunswick to study at Göttingen University. Gauss's teacher there was Kästner, whom Gauss often ridiculed. His only known friend amongst the students was Farkas Bolyai. They met in 1799 and corresponded with each other for many years. -
Regular 17-gon by ruler and compasses
Gauss left Göttingen in 1798 without a diploma, but by this time he had made one of his most important discoveries - the construction of a regular 17-gon by ruler and compasses This was the most major advance in this field since the time of Greek mathematics and was published as Section VII of Gauss's famous work, Disquisitiones Arithmeticae. -
Doctoral dissertation
Gauss returned to Brunswick where he received a degree in 1799. After the Duke of Brunswick had agreed to continue Gauss's stipend, he requested that Gauss submit a doctoral dissertation to the University of Helmstedt. He already knew Pfaff, who was chosen to be his advisor. Gauss's dissertation was a discussion of the fundamental theorem of algebra. -
Disquisitiones Arithmeticae
With his stipend to support him, Gauss did not need to find a job so devoted himself to research. He published the book Disquisitiones Arithmeticae in the summer of 1801. There were seven sections, all but the last section, referred to above, being devoted to number theory. -
Marriage
Gauss married Johanna Ostoff on 9 October, 1805. Despite having a happy personal life for the first time, his benefactor, the Duke of Brunswick, was killed fighting for the Prussian army. -
director of the Göttingen observatory
In 1807 Gauss left Brunswick to take up the position of director of the Göttingen observatory. -
Married for a second time
Gauss was married for a second time the next year, to Minna the best friend of Johanna, and although they had three children, this marriage seemed to be one of convenience for Gauss. -
Theoria motus corporum coelestium in sectionibus conicis Solem ambientium, in 1809
Gauss's work never seemed to suffer from his personal tragedy. He published his second book, Theoria motus corporum coelestium in sectionibus conicis Solem ambientium, in 1809, a major two volume treatise on the motion of celestial bodies. In the first volume he discussed differential equations, conic sections and elliptic orbits, while in the second volume, the main part of the work, he showed how to estimate and then to refine the estimation of a planet's orbit. -
More publications
Much of Gauss's time was spent on a new observatory, completed in 1816. His publications during this time include Disquisitiones generales circa seriem infinitam, a rigorous treatment of series and an introduction of the hypergeometric function, Methodus nova integralium valores per approximationem inveniendi, a practical essay on approximate integration, Bestimmung der Genauigkeit der Beobachtungen, a discussion of statistical estimators, a and Theoria attractionis corporum sphaeroidicorum... -
Heliotrope
Gauss invented the heliotrope which worked by reflecting the Sun's rays using a design of mirrors and a small telescope. -
Danish grid
Gauss had been asked in 1818 to carry out a geodesic survey of the state of Hanover to link up with the existing Danish grid. Gauss was pleased to accept and took personal charge of the survey, making measurements during the day and reducing them at night, using his extraordinary mental capacity for calculations. -
Gauss's famous theorema egregrium
Gauss had a major interest in differential geometry, and published many papers on the subject. Disquisitiones generales circa superficies curva (1828) was his most renowned work in this field, it contained such geometrical ideas as Gaussian curvature. The paper also includes Gauss's famous theorema egregrium:
If an area in E3 can be developed (i.e. mapped isometrically) into another area of E3, the values of the Gaussian curvatures are identical in corresponding points. -
Working on physis
In 1831, Wilhelm Weber arrived in Göttingen as physics professor filling Tobias Mayer's chair. Gauss had known Weber since 1828 and supported his appointment. Gauss had worked on physics before 1831, publishing Über ein neues allgemeines Grundgesetz der Mechanik. -
Terrestrial magnetism
In 1832, Gauss and Weber began investigating the theory of terrestrial magnetism after Alexander von Humboldt attempted to obtain Gauss's assistance in making a grid of magnetic observation points around the Earth. Gauss was excited by this prospect and by 1840 he had written three important papers on the subject: Intensitas vis magneticae terrestris ad mensuram absolutam revocata (1832), Allgemeine Theorie des Erdmagnetismus (1839) and Allgemeine Lehrsätze in Beziehung ...(1840) -
Gauss's activity gradually decreased
In 1837, Weber was forced to leave Göttingen when he became involved in a political dispute and, from this time, Gauss's activity gradually decreased. -
Specifying a location for the magnetic South pole
Gauss used the Laplace equation to aid him with his calculations, and ended up specifying a location for the magnetic South pole. -
Magnetischer Verein
The Magnetischer Verein and its journal were founded, and the atlas of geomagnetism was published, while Gauss and Weber's own journal in which their results were published ran from 1836 to 1841. -
Updating the Göttingen University widow's fund
Gauss spent the years from 1845 to 1851 updating the Göttingen University widow's fund. This work gave him practical experience in financial matters, and he went on to make his fortune through shrewd investments in bonds issued by private companies. -
Golden jubilee lecture
Gauss presented his golden jubilee lecture in 1849, fifty years after his diploma had been granted by Helmstedt University. It was appropriately a variation on his dissertation of 1799. From the mathematical community only Jacobi and Dirichlet were present, but Gauss received many messages and honours. -
Last known scientific exchange
His last known scientific exchange was with Gerling. He discussed a modified Foucault pendulum in 1854. -
Railway link between Hanover and Göttingen
He was also able to attend the opening of the new railway link between Hanover and Göttingen, but this proved to be his last outing. -
Death date
Carl Friedrich Gauss was death February 23, 1855, in Göttingen, Germany
