Taken from www.rare-earth-magnets.com
Also referred to as the Prince of Mathematics, Carl Friedrich Gauss was born in Brunswick, Germany in 1777, and was a mathematician, astronomer and physicist. From an early age he showed signs of brilliance and at the age of 19 he illustrated that a heptadecagon could be constructed using simply a ruler and compass, making an important connection between the studies of geometry and algebra.
During his illustrious career Gauss published over 150 pieces of work. “Disquisitiones Arithmeticae,” which was published at the tender age of 24, still remains one of the most ground-breaking discoveries in Mathematics as it established the fundamental theory of algebra in four different ways. Gauss’ second most impressive piece of work is his “Theory of Motion of the Celestial Bodies Moving in Conic Sections around the Sun”. Gauss was able to predict where the re-emergence of the asteroid Ceres would be by using a simplified calculation method to eliminate room for error.
While at the University of Gottingen, Gauss teamed up with Wilheim Weber in a common appreciation for electricity and magnetism. The term ‘gauss’ is a cgs (centimeter-gram-second) unit of measurement of the magnetic flux density, and Gauss’ flux theorem explains the distribution of electric charge to the resulting electric field. Gauss also invented the magnetometer which is a very sensitive instrument used to measure both the magnetization in an object and the strength of a magnetic field.
Other notable contributions to science made by Gauss include:
- Inventing the heliotrope (a surveying instrument)
- Establishing the fundamental theory of arithmetic
- The Gaussian Error Curve, more commonly known as the Bell Curve
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