Encyclopedia of Planetary Science pp 267-268 | Cite as
Gauss, Carl Friedrich (1777–1855)
Born in Brunswick (Germany), Gauss was raised in humble circumstances, but showed such precocity that he was granted a ducal stipend and by the age of 25 he was a famous mathematician and astronomer. In 1802 he became director of the observatory in Göttingen and stayed there for 47 years.
While his primary contributions were to mathematics, numbers theory and statistics, Gauss made valuable contributions to geodesy, geomagnetism and planetary science. He independently discovered the Titius—Bode law of planetary distances. According to May (1972), ‘he thought numerically and algebraically, after the manner of Euler ...’ When Piazzi (q.v.) described (and ‘lost’) the new ‘planet’ Ceres (q.v.) seen in January 1801, Gauss applied elliptical orbit theory and the new least squares method to predict, successfully, its reappearance in January 1802. His full theory of orbital motion appeared in 1809. When his stipend was raised in 1801 he remarked: ‘But I have not earned it. I have not done...
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