GAUSS, CARL FRIEDRICH

born April 30, 1777, Brunswick died Feb. 23, 1855, Gttingen, Hanover original name Johann Friedrich Carl Gauss German mathematician who also made contributions to other sciences. With Archimedes and Newton, Gauss ranks as one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. At an early age he overturned the theories and methods of 18th-century mathematics and, following his own revolutionary theory of numbers, opened the way to a mid-19th-century rigorization of analysis. Although he contributed significantly to pure mathematics, he also made practical applications of importance for 20th-century astronomy, geodesy, and electromagnetism. His own dictum, Mathematics, the queen of the sciences, and arithmetic, the queen of mathematics, aptly conveys his perception of the pivotal role of mathematics in science. Gauss was the only son of poor parents. Impressed by his ability in mathematics and languages, his teachers and his devoted mother recommended him to the Duke of Brunswick, who granted him financial assistance to continue his education in secondary school and from 1795 to 1798 to study mathematics at the University of Gttingen. In 1799 he obtained his doctorate in absentia from the university at Helmstedt. The subject of his dissertation was a proof of the fundamental theorem of algebrawhich was proven only partially before Gausswhich states that every algebraic equation with complex coefficients has complex solutions; moreover, Gauss skillfully formulated and proved this theorem without the use of complex numbers. Additional reading Carl Friedrich Gauss Werke, 12 vol. (18631933), presents Gauss's publications, posthumous works, part of his correspondence, and commentaries by the publishers. Biographies include W.K. Bhler, Gauss (1981); Tord Hall, Carl Friedrich Gauss, trans. from Swedish (1970); and W. Sartorius von Waltershausen, Gauss, a Memorial (1966; originally published in German, 1856), written by a friend as a nonmathematical account of Gauss's life. Hans Reichardt (ed.), C.F. Gauss Gedenkband anlsslich des 100. Todestages am 23. Februar 1955 (1957), contains essays by prominent specialists on various aspects of Gauss's work, as well as facts on his life and activities; and George M. Rassias (ed.), The Mathematical Heritage of C.F. Gauss (1991), includes diverse essays covering theories and problems that Gauss initially set forth. Hans Reichardt The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica