Mathematician, astronomer and physicist, * Braunschweig 4/30/1777, † Göttingen 2/23/1855 (Germany).
Gauss, who was called »Princeps Mathematicorum« in his lifetime, belongs to the most famous mathematicians all-time. Within his lifework we find important individual performances with great variety and perfect presentation as well as an exact realisation of his ideas in the minutest details. Thereby he always showed a practicable sense for application and measurement.
His works about cartography are fundamental. Since 1816 Gauss was busy with the degree measurement and the surveying of the Kingdom Hanover. Thereby he improved upon the methods of geodesy, invented the heliotrope to better the measurements and published works about map projections.
Furthermore he was induced to study the planar theory which he published in his fundamental differential-geometrical volume »Disquisitiones generales circa superficies curvas« (1828; engl. »General Planar Theory«) which among other things includes his important Theorema Egregium.
See also | |
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Gauss-Krüger projection |
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Gauss' curvature |
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Cartographers and other Scholars |