The Return to Brunswick. Dissertation. The Ceres Orbit

Abstract

In the fall of 1798, Gauss returned to Brunswick, where he lived until 1807. It is obvious to us, as it must have been equally obvious to Gauss himself, that the coming years would be of critical importance to his career. It had to be seen whether Gauss was able to satisfy, by successful application of his talents, his own expectations and the expectations of his teachers and friends, particularly the Duke’s. Up to now, Gauss’s only publication was the announcement of the constructibility of the 17-gon; otherwise, his “works” consisted of a plethora of drafts and fragments, of unfinished essays and unpolished ideas of whose significance and meaning the author himself could not have been too sure. But it was not only professionally that Gauss had to prove himself—he was now 21 years old, returning to his native town where his parents still lived, and trying to secure an independent existence for himself, possibly even to establish a family and assume the responsibilities of an adult (see also p. 60). An important first step was to choose not to live in the house of his parents; soon after his arrival in Brunswick, Gauss gave instructions for his new address in one of his letters to Bolyai.¹