preview

The Life of Carl Friedrich Gauss

Decent Essays
Open Document

Mathematicians have always formed a very important role in history. From the Greeks to the modern era, mathematicians have made spectacular discoveries and critical contributions to the world of mathematics. Because of great mathematicians, the human race is exploring and discovering unknown boundaries of space and technology. The life of Carl Friedrich Gauss was full of phenomenal adventures and discoveries. He was born in Brunswick, Germany on April 30th, 1777 to poor working class parents. Gauss’ father was known as a hard worker and an honest man but heavily discouraged Gauss from attending school to follow a family trade. On the other hand, Gauss’ mother and uncle recognized his remarkable intelligence at an early age. Gauss’ intelligence was so powerful that one day at the age ten solved the problem that his arithmetic instructor gave him with one number, 5,050. The “simple” math problem for Gauss was to write all whole numbers between one and 100 and add up their sum. Furthermore, he first went to college at the age of fourteen and was financially sustained by Carl Wilhelm Ferdinand who was the Duke of Brunswick. While studying language at Caroline College, he discovered that a regular polygon with seventeen sides could be drawn with a compass and a straight edge. He was so impressed with his discovery that he turned to study mathematics. Mathematics composed a vital part of the life of Friedrich Gauss. All of his contributions and advancements were so

Get Access