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Carl Friedrich Gauss is considered one of the greatest mathematicians
of modern times. His contemporaries called him the "Prince of Mathematics."
He was born into a poor family; his father made a living as a mason.
As a very small child, Gauss found a calculation error in his father's
accounts, the first of many incidents that gave evidence of his mathematical
precocity. At 19, Gauss demonstrated that the regular 17-sided polygon
can be constructed with compass and straight edge alone. This was remarkable,
because, since the time of Euclid, it was though that the only regular
polygons constructible in this way were the triangle and the pentagon.
Because of this discovery Gauss decided to pursue a career in mathematics
instead of languages, his other passion. In his doctoral dissertation,
written at the age of 22, Gauss proved the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra:
A polynomial of degree n with complex coefficients has n roots. His
other accomplishments range over every branch of mathematics, as well
as physics and astronomy.
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