Thursday, February 14, 2013

Karl Friedrich Gauss (1777 – 1855)

He was a child prodigy and was gifted in mathematics, physics, engineering, astronomy and even land surveying. The properties of numbers fascinated him, and in his work he anticipated major mathematical development of later times. Along with Wilhelm Welser, he built the first electric telegraph in 1833. His mathematical theory of curved surface laid the foundation for the later work of Riemann.