Example 1777 World Events

Birth of Johann Ga

TOC

Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777 – 1855) was a German mathematician who contributed significantly to many fields, including number theory, algebra, statistics, analysis, differential geometry, geodesy, geophysics, mechanics, optics, electrostatics, astronomy, and matrix theory. He is ranked as one of history's most influential mathematicians. Gauss was born on April 30, 1777 in Brunswick, Germany as the son of poor working-class parents – his mother was illiterate. He was a child prodigy. At age 19 he proved that a polygon can be constructed using a compass and unmarked straight edge IF the number of sides is a prime number. This represented the first progress in regular polygon construction in more than 2000 years. A 17-sided Heptadecagon is engraved on Gauss’ grave stone. At age 21, he completed Disquisitiones Arithmeticae , his magnum opus. It consolidated number theory as a discipline and has shaped the field to the present day. At age 22 he proved the fundamental theorem of algebra which states that every non-constant single-variable polynomial with complex coefficients has at least one complex root. Gauss discovered the possibility of non-Euclidean geometries which led to, among other things, Einstein's theory of general relativity – which describes the universe as non-Euclidean.