Carl Friedrich Gauss, original name Johann Friedrich Carl Gauss (born April 30, 1777, Brunswick

[Germany]died February 23, 1855, Gttingen, Hanover), German mathematician, generally

regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians of all time for his contributions to number
theory, geometry, probability theory, geodesy, planetary astronomy, the theory of functions, and
potential theory (including electromagnetism).
Gauss was the only child of poor parents. He was rare among mathematicians in that he was a
calculating prodigy, and he retained the ability to do elaborate calculations in his head most of his
life. Impressed by this ability and by his gift for languages, his teachers and his devoted mother
recommended him to the duke of Brunswick in 1791, who granted him financial assistance to
continue his education locally and then to study mathematics at the University of Gttingen from
1795 to 1798. Gausss pioneering work gradually established him as the eras preeminent
mathematician, first in the German-speaking world and then farther afield, although he remained a
remote and aloof figure.
Gausss first significant discovery, in 1792, was that a regular polygon of 17 sides can be
constructed by ruler and compass alone. Its significance lies not in the result but in the proof, which
rested on a profound analysis of the factorization of polynomial equations and opened the door to
later ideas of Galois theory. His doctoral thesis of 1797 gave a proof of thefundamental theorem of
algebra: every polynomial equation with real or complex coefficients has as many roots (solutions)
as its degree (the highest power of the variable). Gausss proof, though not wholly convincing, was
remarkable for its critique of earlier attempts. Gauss later gave three more proofs of this major result,
the last on the 50th anniversary of the first, which shows the importance he attached to the topic.