The famous German scientist Gauss (1777 ~ 1855) was born in a poor family. Gauss learned to calculate by himself before he could speak. When he was three years old, he watched his father calculate his salary one night and corrected his father's calculation mistakes.

One day, Gauss's math teacher was very depressed. Say to the students, "You calculated the sum of 1 plus 2 plus 3 to 100 for me today. Whoever can't figure it out will be punished for not going home for lunch. "

As a result, in less than half an hour, Xiao Gao Si picked up the slate and stepped forward. "Teacher, is this the answer?"

Without looking up, the teacher waved his thick hand and said, "Go, go back!"! Wrong. "

Gauss stood still and put the slate in front of the teacher: "Teacher! I think this answer is correct. "

The math teacher wanted to shout, but he was surprised when he saw the number written on the slate: 5050. How did this 8-year-old get the answer so quickly?

Gauss explained a method he discovered, which was used by the ancient Greeks and China people to calculate the sequence1+2+3+…+n. Gauss's discovery made the teacher feel ashamed, and felt that his previous view of being arrogant and belittling poor children was wrong. He also taught seriously in the future, and often bought some math books from the city for his own study and lent them to Gauss. With his encouragement, Gauss later did some important research in mathematics.

2, Chen Jingrun haircut

Chen Jingrun is a famous mathematician in China. He doesn't like going to the park and walking, but studying. When he studies, he often forgets to eat and sleep. One day, when Chen Jingrun was having lunch, he touched his head and found that his hair was too long. He should get a haircut quickly, otherwise people will think he is a big girl when they see him. So he left work and ran to the barber shop.

There are so many people in the barber shop that everyone cuts their hair next to each other. Chen Jingrun got brand number 38. He thought, it's still early for me to turn around. Time is so precious that I can't waste it. He hurried out of the barber shop, found a quiet place to sit down, then took out a small notebook from his pocket and recited new words in a foreign language.

He recited it for a while and suddenly remembered that when he was reading a foreign language in the morning, there was one place he didn't understand. You must understand what you don't understand. This is Chen Jingrun's temper.

He looked at his watch. It's only half past twelve. He thought: check in the library first, and then come back for a haircut. He stood up and left. Who knows, not long after he left, it was his turn to get a haircut. The barber shouted, "Number 38! Who is number thirty-eight? Come and get a haircut! " Think about it. Chen Jingrun is reading in the library. Can he hear the barber calling number 38?

3. Hua:

Once, while looking at the shop, Hua was solving a math problem. A lady came and wanted to buy cotton. When she asked Hua how much it was, he was completely absorbed in the problem and didn't hear what the other party said. After calculating the answer, he casually said a number. The lady thought he was talking about the price of cotton and screamed, "Why is it so expensive?" .

At this time, Hua knew that someone had come to buy cotton. When Hua sold cotton to a lady, he found that the toilet paper he used to calculate the problem was taken away by the lady. This made Hua desperate to catch up with the young lady, and he finally caught up with her. Hua said shyly, "Auntie, please … please give me back the toilet paper."

The woman said angrily, "This is the money I paid, not you." Hua was in a hurry and said, "How about this! I paid for it. " When Hua reached for the money, the woman seemed to be moved by the child! He not only asked for money, but also returned the toilet paper to Hua. At this time, HuaCai slightly relieved. After returning home, I began to calculate math problems again. ...

4. Archimedes

King Shiloh of Syracuse asked the goldsmith to make a crown out of pure gold. Because it is suspected that there is silver mixed in it, Archimedes is invited to identify it. When he entered the bathtub to take a bath, the water overflowed outside the bathtub, so he realized that although the weight of objects made of different materials was the same, the discharged water would be different because of their different volumes. According to this truth, it can be judged whether the crown is adulterated. ?

5. Zu Chongzhi

(AD 429-500) was born in Laiyuan County, Hebei Province. His outstanding achievement in mathematics is the calculation of pi. Before the Qin and Han Dynasties, people took "the diameter of three weeks a week" as pi, that is, "the ancient rate". Until the Three Kingdoms period, Liu Hui found π=3. 14. On the basis of predecessors' achievements, Zu Chongzhi worked hard and calculated repeatedly, and found that π was between 3. 14 15926 and 3. 14 15927.