Gauss's father is firm and strict, but his mother is gentle and clever. His mother loves him, so Gauss likes his mother better than his father.
Gauss is clever and witty, and his mathematical talent was revealed in his childhood. Although Gauss's father is a farmer, he has certain writing and computing skills. One day when Gauss was 3 years old, his father was absorbed in accounting. After the calculation, when his father read out the numbers and prepared to write them down, Gauss, who was standing by, whispered, "Dad, the calculation is wrong! The result should be like this ... "The father looked up in surprise, looked at his son and checked it again. Sure enough, Gauss was right. Later, Gauss recalled the past and said half jokingly, "I learned to calculate before I learned to speak."
In Gauss's enlightenment education, his uncle Friedrich Ben Ci had a great influence on him. Ben Ci is a skilled brocade worker, diligent, careful and quick-thinking. He is a frequent visitor to Goss's house. He loves Gauss very much and often tells stories to Gauss and plays games with him. Once, Goss and his uncle went out to play. When I walked to the river, I saw a piece of wood floating from the upper reaches of the river. My uncle asked, "Gauss, why do you think wood won't sink?" "The wood is very light." Gauss replied. My uncle bent down and picked up a stone and asked, "Is this stone heavier or that piece of wood?" "The wood is heavy." Gauss said. Ben Ci didn't answer. He threw it hard and plopped, and the stone sank to the bottom of the river. Ben Ci used this method to inspire and induce Gauss.
In order to make Gauss grow up better, his uncle bought him many children's books. Gauss liked the story in the book very much and read it hungrily. The father disapproved of his son's reading hobby. Every day before it is completely dark, I urge my son to go to the top floor to sleep, in order to save fuel. The top floor is short and small, and there is no light yet. Gauss used his quick wits and came up with a good idea He found a radish, hollowed it out, stuffed it with grease, and rubbed a cotton sliver with coarse cotton to make a wick. Chewing greedily every word in the book by the dim light. The source of knowledge gurgled and moistened Gauss's young heart.
1784, Gauss was 7 years old, and his father sent him to Yekate Lin Ning Primary School to study. This teacher is Bienert, a famous mathematician in Brunswick. At that time, the conditions of this primary school were quite simple, with low and wet bungalows and uneven ground. It was in this school that Gauss began his formal study and showed his genius in the field of mathematics.
1787, Gaussian level 3. On one occasion, Bienert gave the students a math problem:
1+2+3+…+98+99+ 100=?
Unexpectedly, just after the teacher described the topic, Gauss quickly wrote the answer on the small stone board: 5050. Bienert was surprised when Gauss gave the little slate to the teacher. As a result, Gauss was the only one in the class who answered correctly.
Gauss used the arithmetic progression method that the teacher didn't teach when calculating this problem. That is to say, from 1 to 100, each pair of numbers before and after is added, 1+ 100, 2+99, ... and the total is 10 1, so this * *.
Through this calculation, Mr. Bient discovered Gauss's extraordinary mathematical ability and began to like this peasant boy. Binal found many math books for Gauss, and specially bought them for Gauss from Hamburg. With the help of the teacher, Gauss read a lot of books and broadened his horizons.
"He has surpassed me," Bient had to admit. "I have nothing to teach him."
In this school, there is a young man named john martin Battier (1769-1836). Battier is Binel's assistant. His job is to teach pupils to write and cut goose feathers. Battier later became a German mathematician. Because of their common interest in mathematics, they soon became good friends. The book of algebraic analysis that Battier bought became their teaching material. Gauss not only read books, but also began to challenge some "proofs" of mathematics masters.
1788, graduated from Gauss Primary School. After repeated persuasion by Binal and Battier, Gauss's father agreed to continue his studies at the expense of Binal and Battier. This year, Gauss was admitted to Brunswick Senior Liberal Arts Middle School with excellent results. In this school, he quickly mastered the main courses of ancient German, Latin and Greek. Because of his good foundation and originality in classical literature, he went to the second grade from the beginning. Two years later, he was promoted to the first class of philosophy in high school. At this point, Gauss still didn't give up his interest in mathematics. 1788, when Gauss 1 1 years old, Battier bought the book A Complete Introduction to Algebra written by their long-awaited great mathematician Euler. This is a recognized authoritative work on algebra. Gauss became interested in the binomial (1+x) n theorem.
The expansion of Euler binomial (1+x) n is described as follows: when n is a natural number, the expansion has finite terms; When n is an unnatural number, the expansion has infinite terms. Gauss was interested in this conclusion and tried to prove it. There is no reliable information about the details of this proof, but even if this proof is not perfect, it at least reflects the rigor of Gauss's scholarship. Gauss is recognized as the first strict prover of modern mathematics, and his strict requirements for analysis have influenced the whole field of mathematics.
At the age of 12, Gauss doubted whether Euclidean geometry, which had ruled for more than 2000 years, was the only geometric truth. By the age of 16, he has clearly seen the dawn of non-Euclidean geometry.
Because Gauss was clever and studious, he soon became a famous figure in Brunswick. One day, on the way home from school, Gauss walked and read a book, and unconsciously walked to Duke Ferdinand (? -1806). The Duchess who was walking in the garden was fascinated when she saw a child holding a big book. So he stopped gauss and asked him what book he was reading. When she found Gauss reading Euler's Principles of Differential Calculus, she was surprised and told the Duke about it.
179 1 year, Duke Ferdinand was introduced by the lecturer von zimmermann of Caroline College and summoned Gauss. Through simple conversation, the duke fell in love with the slightly shy child and appreciated his talent. The duke agreed to be Gauss's patron and let him receive higher education.
1792, Gauss entered Caroline College in Brunswick with the support of the Duke. During this period, in addition to reading compulsory ancient languages, philosophy, history and natural sciences, he also studied the works of Newton, Euler and Lagrange. Gauss admired these three predecessors, and still has his notes after reading Newton's Arithmetic of Everything and Euler's Principle of Integral calculus. In the study of these mathematicians' original works, Gauss learned about the development of some frontier disciplines in mathematics at that time. Influenced by Euler, Gauss was particularly interested in number theory. Before 15 years old, he began to study number theory. Since then, Gauss has formulated a set of procedures for studying number theory: determining the subject-practice (calculation, tabulation or experiment)-theory (finding the law to be proved by induction)-practice (further empirical research by using the law)-theory (expressing more universal regularity and finding deeper connections at a higher level). Although the research didn't go on consciously and perfectly at first, Gauss always took the career he had started since childhood very seriously.
1795, the duke paid various expenses for him and sent him to the famous University of G? ttingen in Germany, which made Gauss study hard and started creative research according to his own ideals. 1799, Gauss finished his doctoral thesis and returned to his hometown of Brunswick. Just when he fell ill because he was worried about his future and livelihood-although his doctoral thesis was successfully passed, he was awarded a doctorate and obtained a lecturer position, but he failed to attract students and had to return to his hometown-the duke extended a helping hand. The Duke paid the printing fee for Gauss' long doctoral thesis, gave him an apartment, and printed Arithmetic Research for him, which enabled the book to be published in 180 1. Also bear all the living expenses of Gauss. All this moved Gauss very much. In his doctoral thesis and Arithmetic Research, he wrote his sincere dedication: To Dagong, your kindness freed me from all troubles and enabled me to engage in this unique research.
1806, the duke was killed while resisting the French army commanded by Napoleon, which dealt a heavy blow to Gauss. He is heartbroken and has long been deeply hostile to the French. The death of Dagong brought economic difficulties to Gauss, the misfortune that Germany was enslaved by the French army, and the death of his first wife, all of which made Gauss somewhat disheartened, but he was a strong man and never revealed his predicament to others, nor did he let his friends comfort his misfortune. It was not until19th century that people knew his state of mind at that time when sorting out his unpublished mathematical manuscripts. In a discussion about elliptic function, a subtle pencil word was suddenly inserted: for me, it is better to die than to live like this.
The generous and kind benefactor died, and Gauss had to find a suitable job to support his family. Because of Gauss's outstanding work in astronomy and mathematics, his fame spread all over Europe from 1802. The Academy of Sciences in Petersburg has continuously hinted that since Euler's death in 1783, Euler's position in the Academy of Sciences in Petersburg has been waiting for a genius like Gauss. When the Duke was alive, he strongly discouraged Gauss from going to Russia. He is even willing to raise his salary and set up an observatory for him. Now, Gauss is facing a new choice in life.
In order not to lose Germany's greatest genius, B.A. von von humboldt, a famous German scholar, joined other scholars and politicians to win Gauss the privileged positions of professor of mathematics and astronomy at the University of G? ttingen and director of the G? ttingen Observatory. 1807, Gauss went to Kottingen to take office, and his family moved here. Since then, he has lived in G? ttingen except for attending a scientific conference in Berlin. The efforts of Humboldt and others not only made the Gauss family have a comfortable living environment, but also enabled Gauss himself to give full play to his genius, and created conditions for the establishment of Gottingen Mathematics School and Germany to become a world science center and mathematics center. At the same time, it also marks a good beginning of scientific research socialization.
Gauss's academic position has always been highly respected by people. He has the reputation of prince of mathematics and king of mathematicians, and is considered as one of the three (or four) greatest mathematicians in human history (Archimedes, Newton, Gauss or Euler). People also praised Gauss as the pride of mankind. Genius, precocity, high yield, persistent creativity, ..., almost all the praises in the field of human intelligence are not too much for Gauss.
Gauss's research field covers all fields of pure mathematics and applied mathematics, and has opened up many new fields of mathematics, from the most abstract algebraic number theory to intrinsic geometry, leaving his footprints. Judging from the research style, methods and even concrete achievements, he is the backbone of 18- 19 century. If we imagine mathematicians in the18th century as a series of high mountains, the last awe-inspiring peak is Gauss; If mathematicians in the19th century are imagined as rivers, then their source is Gauss.
Although mathematical research and scientific work did not become an enviable career at the end of 18, Gauss was born at the right time, because the development of European capitalism made governments around the world pay attention to scientific research when he was almost 30 years old. With Napoleon's emphasis on French scientists and scientific research, Russian czars and many European monarchs began to look at scientists and scientific research with new eyes. The socialization process of scientific research is accelerating and the status of science is improving. As the greatest scientist at that time, Gauss won many honors, and many world-famous scientists regarded Gauss as their teacher.
1802, Gauss was elected as an academician of communication and a professor of Kazan University by the Academy of Sciences in Petersburg, Russia. 1877, the Danish government appointed him as a scientific adviser, and this year, the government of Hanover, Germany also hired him as a government scientific adviser.
Gauss's life is a typical scholar's life. He has always maintained the frugality of a farmer, making it hard to imagine that he is a great professor and the greatest mathematician in the world. He was married twice, and several children annoyed him. However, these have little influence on his scientific creation. After gaining a high reputation and German mathematics began to dominate the world, a generation of Tianjiao completed the journey of life.