Friday, July 18, 2008
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Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (IPA: /ˈɡaʊs/, , German: Gauß, Latin: Carolus Fridericus Gauss) (30 April 1777 – 23 February 1855) was a German mathematician and scientist who contributed significantly to many fields, including number theory, statistics, analysis, differential geometry, geodesy, electrostatics, astronomy, and optics. Sometimes known as the princeps mathematicorum[1] (Latin, usually translated as "the Prince of Mathematicians", although Latin princeps also can simply mean "the foremost") and "greatest mathematician since antiquity", Gauss had a remarkable influence in many fields of mathematics and science and is ranked as one of history's most influential mathematicians.[2]
Gauss was a child prodigy. There are many anecdotes pertaining to his precocity while a toddler, and he made his first ground-breaking mathematical discoveries while still a teenager. He completed Disquisitiones Arithmeticae, his magnum opus, in 1798 at the age of 21, though it would not be published until 1801. This work was fundamental in consolidating number theory as a discipline and has shaped the field to the present day.
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