What is Carl Friedrich Gauss?
[[File:Carl Friedrich Gauss.jpg|thumb|200px|Gauss]] [[File:Gauss Statue.jpg|100px|thumb|Statue of Gauss in Brunswick]] '''Carl Friedrich Gauss''' (pronunciation: {{Audio|De-carlfriedrichgauss.ogg|Carl Friedrich Gauss (Gauß)}}, [[Latin]]: '''Carolus Fridericus Gauss''') (30 April 1777 – 23 February 1855) was a famous [[mathematician]] from [[Göttingen]], [[Germany]]. Gauss contributed to many areas of learning. Most of his work was about [[number theory]], [[statistics]], and [[astronomy]]. == Childhood == He was born in [[Braunschweig]]. That city was then part of the [[duchy]] of Braunschweig-Lüneburg. Today the city is part of [[Niedersachsen|Lower Saxony]]. As a child, he was a [[child prodigy|prodigy]], meaning he was very clever. When he was 3 years old, he told his father that he had made a mistake on his complicated payroll. The child was correct. Gauss also taught himself to read. When he was in [[elementary school]], his teacher once tried to keep the children busy, telling them to add up all the [[number]]s from 1 to 100. Gauss did it quickly, like this: 1 + 100 = 101, 2 + 99 = 101, 3 + 98 = 101, and so on. There were a total of 50 pairs, so 50 × 101 = 5,050. The formula is <math>rac 1 2 * (n*(n+1))</math>. There are many other versions of this story.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-02-06|title=Gauss's Day of Reckoning|url=https://www.americanscientist.org/article/gausss-day-of-reckoning|access-date=2023-01-22|website=American Scientist|language=en}}</ref> The [[Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg|Duke of Brunswick]] gave Gauss a [[fellowship]] to the Collegium Carolinum, where he attended from 1792 to 1795. This meant that the Duke paid for the [[education]] of Carl Friedrich Gauss at the Collegium. After this, Gauss went to the [[University of Göttingen]], from 1795 to 1798. == Adulthood == When Gauss was 23, scientists spotted the [[asteroid]] [[Ceres]] but they did not see it for long enough to know its [[orbit]]. Gauss made calculations that let them locate it. Later in life Gauss s