Carl Friedrich Gauss – A Former Child Prodigy And German Mathematician

German mathematician and physicist, Carl Friedrich Gauss is famous for his significant contribution to Science and Mathematics. He was also one of the foremost of mathematicians and the greatest mathematician since antiquity.

Gauss was born on 30 April 1777 in Brunswick, principality of Brunswick, Wolfenbütel. He was born in a not very rich family. There was no specific record of the date of birth because his mother was illiterate. She could not record and remember that Gauss was born on Wednesday, eight days before the Feast of the Ascension.

A REMARKABLE CHILD PRODIGY WITH EXTRAORDINARY SKILLS

Gauss was a rare Mathematician who was able to elaborate calculations in his sanity most of his life. His mother recommended him to the duke of Brunswick in 1791. Also, Gauss received financial aid to continue his education locally. He did his studies from the University of Göttingen from 1795 to 1798.

Why was Gauss famous?

Gauss was one of the greatest mathematicians of all eternity for his donations to various areas. His contributions towards probability theory, geodesy, planetary astronomy, geometry, the idea of functions, and potential theory (including electromagnetism), are remarkable.

He came out with a new proof with a theorem during his Doctorate in 1799. The theorem says that every integral rational algebraic function of a variable must be resolved into real factors of the first or second degree.

He coined the fundamental theorem of algebra, which asserts that every non-constant single-variable polynomial with complex coefficients has at least one complex root. 

His Contributions

Gauss was a truly remarkable talent and resulted in two major publications in 1801. His publication of the first systematic book on algebraic number theory, Disquisitiones Arithmeticae begins with the account of modular arithmetic. Moreover, it gives a thorough understanding of polynomials’ solutions in two variables in integers. It ends with the theory of factorization mentioned above. 

Also, he substantiated the following conjectured theorems:

1. Fermat polygonal number theorem for n = 3
2. Fermat’s last theorem for n = 5
3. Descartes’s rule of signs
4. Kepler conjecture for regular arrangements

His Awards and Felicitation

He won many awards and felicitations. Also, he was successful in attaining trophies and medals after his name.

1. Copley Medal

Gauss won the most prestigious scientific award, The Copley Medal in the United Kingdom, complimented by the Royal Society of London in 1838. Moreover, he was well-known for his inventions and mathematical researches in magnetism.

1. The prize of the Danish Academy of Sciences

He worked on map projections. Also, he wrote on Cartography. Cartography is the study of angle-preserving maps. He was honored by The Danish Academy of Sciences.

The Portrait of Gauss and some prominent Göttingen buildings were featured on the German ten-mark banknote from 1989 through 2001.

On 30 April 2018, Google paid a massive respect for Gauss. Moreover, Google showcased a doodle for his would-be 241st birthday in Russia, Israel, Japan, Taiwan, parts of Southern and Central America, Europe, and The United States.

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