Biography of Carl Friedrich Gauss.

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Carl Friedrich Gauss

Carl Gauss was born on April 30, 1777 in Brunswick. The German scientist and

mathematician is called the founder of modern mathematics. His work in physics and astronomy is as good as his work in mathematics.

Biographists say that he got his good health from his father. Gauss said that he could count before he could talk. When he was seven years old he went to school. While Gauss was in school, his school ranged from ages 10-15. What the teacher would do is give half of the students long problems, so that he could teach the other half. One day the teacher gave half of the students(Gauss was in this half), to add all natural numbers from 1 to 100. Gauss was ten years old at the time and he was the first to finish his paper. He was the only one who got the problem correct.

From that day on Gauss was popular in his school.

On Oct 15, 1795, he was admitted to Georgia Augusta as a mathematics student. At 1st he didn't know whether he should become a mathematician or a philologist. The reason for his undecision is because at the time humanists had a better economic future than scientists.

He finally felt confident in his choice of studies when he found the construction of the regular 17-sided polygon with a compass and a ruler.

Gauss made many great discoveries in the field of math. He gave the proof of the

fundamental theorem of algebra: every polynomial equation with complex coeffients has at least one complex root. Besides pure mathematics Gauss made very important contributions in astronomy, geodesy and other applied disciplines. For example, he predicted the location of some sky bodies.

On October 9, 1805, Gauss married a lady named Johanna Osthoff.