Education

Gottingen University

After attending the Gymnasium, Carl Gauss entered into the Brunswick Collegium Carolinum with the financial support of the Duke of Brunswick, who had recognized his potential early on. It was there at the academy that Gauss made a great discovery. He proved what other mathematicians thought was impossible, Gauss found that, with only a compass and straight edge, he could construct a regular seventeen-gon. This discovery pleased him so much that he gave up all aspirations in other areas and dedicated himself to mathematics. From the Collegium Carolinum, he moved onto Gottingen University, again with the help the Duke of Brunswick. There, he wrote a proof called, "The Fundamental theorem of Algebra" which states that every algebraic equation has at least one solution. Also while he was at Gottingen University Gauss proved the modern number theory (which describes the properties of numbers) in his famous Disquisitiones Arithmeticae. Carl Gauss spent the rest of his life at the university, learning and teaching.