Editing Carl Friedrich Gauss (section)

== Biography ==
=== Youth and education ===
[[File:Braunschweig Brunswick Geburtshaus CF Gauss (1914).jpg|thumb|upright|Birthplace in Brunswick (destroyed in World War II)]]
[[File:Goe.Kurze.Geismarstr.Gauss.Wohnhaus.JPG|thumb|upright|Gauss's home as student in Göttingen]]
Gauss was born on 30 April 1777 in [[Braunschweig|Brunswick]] in the [[Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel]] (now in the German state of [[Lower Saxony]]). His family was of relatively low social status.<ref>{{cite book | last = Borch | first = Rudolf | title = Ahnentafel des Mathematikers Carl Friedrich Gauß | trans-title = Ancestors' Tabel of the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss | series = Ahnentafeln Berühmter Deutscher | volume = 1 | publisher = Zentralstelle für Deutsche Personen- und Familiengeschichte | date = 1929 | pages = 63–65 | language = de}}</ref> His father Gebhard Dietrich Gauss (1744–1808) worked variously as a butcher, bricklayer, gardener, and treasurer of a death-benefit fund. Gauss characterized his father as honourable and respected, but rough and dominating at home. He was experienced in writing and calculating, whereas his second wife Dorothea, Carl Friedrich's mother, was nearly illiterate.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=8}} He had one elder brother from his father's first marriage.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|pp=8–9}}

Gauss was a [[child prodigy]] in mathematics. When the elementary teachers noticed his intellectual abilities, they brought him to the attention of the [[Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick|Duke of Brunswick]] who sent him to the local ''Collegium Carolinum'',{{efn|The ''Collegium Carolinum'' was a preceding institution of the [[Technical University of Braunschweig]], but at Gauss's time not equal to a university.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=17}}
}} which he attended from 1792 to 1795 with [[Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann]] as one of his teachers.{{sfn|Schlesinger|1933|p=10}}{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=14}}<ref name="Ullrich">{{cite book | last1 = Ullrich | first1 = Peter | editor-last = Mittler | editor-first = Elmar | title = "Wie der Blitz einschlägt, hat sich das Räthsel gelöst" – Carl Friedrich Gauß in Göttingen | publisher = Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek | date = 2005 | series = Göttinger Bibliotheksschriften 30 | pages = 17–29 | chapter = Herkunft, Schul- und Studienzeit von Carl Friedrich Gauß | isbn = 3-930457-72-5 | language = de | url = http://webdoc.sub.gwdg.de/ebook/e/2005/gausscd/html/Katalog.pdf}}</ref> Thereafter the Duke granted him the resources for studies of mathematics, sciences, and [[Classics|classical languages]] at the [[University of Göttingen]] until 1798.<ref name="scientificmonthly">{{cite journal |last1=Dunnington |first1=Waldo |year=1927 |title=The Sesquicentennial of the Birth of Gauss |url=http://www.mathsong.com/cfgauss/Dunnington/1927/ |journal=[[The Scientific Monthly]] |volume=24 |issue=5 |pages=402–414 |bibcode=1927SciMo..24..402D |jstor=7912 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226020629/http://www.mathsong.com/cfgauss/Dunnington/1927/ |archive-date=26 February 2008}}  Also available at {{cite web |title=The Sesquicentennial of the Birth of Gauss |url=http://gausschildren.org/genwiki/index.php?title=The_Sesquicentennial_of_the_Birth_of_Gauss}} Retrieved 23 February 2014. Comprehensive biographical article.</ref> His professor in mathematics was [[Abraham Gotthelf Kästner]], whom Gauss called "the leading mathematician among poets, and the leading poet among mathematicians" because of his [[epigram]]s.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=24}}{{efn|Once Gauss drew a lecture scene with professor Kästner producing errors in a simple calculation.<ref name="Ullrich" />}} Astronomy was taught by [[Karl Felix Seyffer]], with whom Gauss stayed in correspondence after graduation;{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=26}} [[Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers|Olbers]] and Gauss mocked him in their correspondence.<ref>{{cite book | last = Wattenberg | first = Diedrich | author-link = Diedrich Wattenberg | title = Wilhelm Olbers im Briefwechsel mit Astronomen seiner Zeit | publisher = GNT – Verlag für Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften und der Technik | date = 1994 | place = Stuttgart | page = 41 | isbn = 3-928186-19-1 | language = de}}</ref> On the other hand, he thought highly of [[Georg Christoph Lichtenberg]], his teacher of physics, and of [[Christian Gottlob Heyne]], whose lectures in classics Gauss attended with pleasure.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=26}} Fellow students of this time were [[Johann Friedrich Benzenberg]], [[Farkas Bolyai]], and [[Heinrich Wilhelm Brandes]].{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=26}}

He was likely a self-taught student in mathematics since he independently rediscovered several theorems.<ref name="Ullrich" /> He solved a geometrical problem that had occupied mathematicians since the [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greeks]] when he determined in 1796 which regular [[polygon]]s can be constructed by [[Compass and straightedge constructions|compass and straightedge]]. This discovery ultimately led Gauss to choose mathematics instead of [[philology]] as a career.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=28}} Gauss's mathematical diary, a collection of short remarks about his results from the years 1796 until 1814, shows that many ideas for his mathematical magnum opus [[Disquisitiones Arithmeticae]] (1801) date from this time.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=37}}

As an elementary student, Gauss and his class were tasked by their teacher, J.G. Büttner, to sum the numbers from 1 to 100. Much to Büttner's surprise, Gauss replied with the correct answer of 5050 in a vastly faster time than expected.<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=2025-03-27 |website=American Scientist |language=en}}</ref> Gauss had realised that the sum could be rearranged as 50 pairs of 101 (1+100=101, 2+99=101, etc.). Thus, he simply multiplied 50 by 101.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Posamentier |first=Alfred S. |title=Math Makers: The Lives and Works of 50 Famous Mathematicians|pages=242–243|publisher=Prometheus Books|year=2019}}</ref> Other accounts state that he computed the sum as 100 sets of 101 and divided by 2.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Story of Gauss - National Council of Teachers of Mathematics |url=https://www.nctm.org/Publications/TCM-blog/Blog/The-Story-of-Gauss/ |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=www.nctm.org}}</ref>

=== Private scholar ===
Gauss graduated as a [[Doctor of Philosophy]] in 1799, not in Göttingen, as is sometimes stated,{{efn|This error occurs for example in Marsden (1977).<ref name="Marsden">{{Cite journal| last = Marsden | first = Brian G. | author-link = Brian G. Marsden | date=1 August 1977 | title = Carl Friedrich Gauss, Astronomer | url = http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1977JRASC..71..309M | journal = [[Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada]] | volume = 71 | pages = 309–323 | bibcode=1977JRASC..71..309M | issn = 0035-872X}}</ref>}}<ref name="Marsden" /> but at the Duke of Brunswick's special request from the University of Helmstedt, the only state university of the duchy. [[Johann Friedrich Pfaff]] assessed his doctoral thesis, and Gauss got the degree ''[[Graduation|in absentia]]'' without further oral examination.<ref name="Ullrich" /> The Duke then granted him the cost of living as a private scholar in Brunswick. Gauss subsequently refused calls from the [[Russian Academy of Sciences]] in [[St. Peterburg]] and [[Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich|Landshut University]].<ref name="Reich2000" /><ref name="Beuermann">{{cite book | last = Beuermann | first = Klaus | editor-last = Beuermann | editor-first = Klaus | title = Grundsätze über die Anlage neuer Sternwarten unter Beziehung auf die Sternwarte der Universität Göttingen von Georg Heinrich Borheck | publisher = Universitätsverlag Göttingen | year = 2005 | place = Göttingen | pages = 37–45 | chapter = Carl Friedrich Gauß und die Göttinger Sternwarte | isbn = 3-938616-02-4 | chapter-url = https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/32489/610361.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}}</ref> Later, the Duke promised him the foundation of an observatory in Brunswick in 1804. Architect [[Peter Joseph Krahe]] made preliminary designs, but one of [[War of the Fourth Coalition|Napoleon's wars]] cancelled those plans:<ref>{{Cite journal | last = Michling | first = Horst | title = Zum Projekt einer Gauß-Sternwarte in Braunschweig | journal = Mitteilungen der Gauß-Gesellschaft Göttingen | issue = 3 | page = 24 | year = 1966 | language = de}}</ref> the Duke was killed in the [[Battle of Jena–Auerstedt|battle of Jena]] in 1806. The duchy was abolished in the following year, and Gauss's financial support stopped.

When Gauss was calculating asteroid orbits in the first years of the century, he established contact with the astronomical communities of [[Bremen]] and [[Lilienthal, Lower Saxony|Lilienthal]], especially [[Wilhelm Olbers]], [[Karl Ludwig Harding]], and [[Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel]], forming part of the informal group of astronomers known as the [[Celestial police]].{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|pp=50, 54–55, 74–77}} One of their aims was the discovery of further planets. They assembled data on asteroids and comets as a basis for Gauss's research on their orbits, which he later published in his astronomical magnum opus ''[[Theoria motus corporum coelestium]]'' (1809).{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|pp=91–92}}

=== Professor in Göttingen ===
[[File:Goettingen Sternwarte 01.jpeg|thumb|Old Göttingen observatory, {{Circa|1800}}]]
In November 1807, Gauss was hired by the [[University of Göttingen]], then an institution of the newly founded [[Kingdom of Westphalia]] under [[Jérôme Bonaparte]], as full professor and director of the [[Göttingen Observatory|astronomical observatory]],{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|pp=85–87}} and kept the chair until his death in 1855. He was soon confronted with the demand for two thousand [[franc]]s from the Westphalian government as a war contribution, which he could not afford to pay. Both Olbers and [[Pierre-Simon Laplace|Laplace]] wanted to help him with the payment, but Gauss refused their assistance. Finally, an anonymous person from [[Frankfurt]], later discovered to be [[Prince-primate]] [[Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg|Dalberg]],{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|pp=86–87}} paid the sum.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|pp=85–87}}

Gauss took on the directorship of the 60-year-old observatory, founded in 1748 by [[Prince-elector]] [[George II of Great Britain|George II]] and built on a converted fortification tower,{{sfn|Brendel|1929|pp=81–82}} with usable, but partly out-of-date instruments.{{sfn|Brendel|1929|p=49}} The construction of a new observatory had been approved by Prince-elector [[George III]] in principle since 1802, and the Westphalian government continued the planning,{{sfn|Brendel|1929|p=83}} but Gauss could not move to his new place of work until September 1816.<ref name="Beuermann" /> He got new up-to-date instruments, including two [[meridian circle]]s from [[Johann Georg Repsold|Repsold]]{{sfn|Brendel|1929|p=84}} and [[Georg Friedrich von Reichenbach|Reichenbach]],{{sfn|Brendel|1929|p=119}} and a [[heliometer]] from [[Joseph von Fraunhofer|Fraunhofer]].{{sfn|Brendel|1929|p=56}}

The scientific activity of Gauss, besides pure mathematics, can be roughly divided into three periods: astronomy was the main focus in the first two decades of the 19th century, geodesy in the third decade, and physics, mainly magnetism, in the fourth decade.{{sfn|Klein|1979|p=7}}

Gauss made no secret of his aversion to giving academic lectures.<ref name="Reich2000">{{Cite journal | last = Reich | first = Karin | title = Gauß' Schüler | journal = Mitteilungen der Gauß-Gesellschaft Göttingen | issue = 37 | pages = 33–62 | year = 2000 | language = de}}</ref><ref name="Beuermann" /> But from the start of his academic career at Göttingen, he continuously gave lectures until 1854.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|pp=405–410}} He often complained about the burdens of teaching, feeling that it was a waste of his time. On the other hand, he occasionally described some students as talented.<ref name="Reich2000" /> Most of his lectures dealt with astronomy, geodesy, and [[applied mathematics]],<ref name="Wittmann">{{cite book | last1 = Wittmann | first1 = Axel | editor-last = Mittler | editor-first = Elmar | title = "Wie der Blitz einschlägt, hat sich das Räthsel gelöst" – Carl Friedrich Gauß in Göttingen | publisher = Niedrsächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek | date = 2005 | series = Göttinger Bibliotheksschriften 30 | pages = 131–149 | chapter = Carl Friedrich Gauß und sein Wirken als Astronom | language = de | isbn = 3-930457-72-5 | url = http://webdoc.sub.gwdg.de/ebook/e/2005/gausscd/html/Katalog.pdf}}</ref> and only three lectures on subjects of pure mathematics.<ref name="Reich2000" />{{efn|Gauss announced 195 lectures, 70 per cent of them on astronomical, 15 per cent on mathematical, 9 per cent on geodetical, and 6 per cent on physical subjects.<ref name="Wittmann" />}} Some of Gauss's students went on to become renowned mathematicians, physicists, and astronomers: [[Moritz Cantor]], [[Richard Dedekind|Dedekind]], [[Enno Dirksen|Dirksen]], [[Johann Franz Encke|Encke]], [[Benjamin Apthorp Gould|Gould]],{{efn|The index of correspondence shows that Benjamin Gould was presumably the last correspondent who, on 13 February 1855, sent a letter to Gauss in his lifetime. It was an actual letter of farewell, but it is uncertain whether it reached the addressee just in time.<ref name="Correspondence" />}} [[Eduard Heine|Heine]], [[Ernst Klinkerfues|Klinkerfues]], [[Adolph Theodor Kupffer|Kupffer]], [[Johann Benedict Listing|Listing]], [[August Ferdinand Möbius|Möbius]], [[Friedrich Bernhard Gottfried Nicolai|Nicolai]], [[Bernhard Riemann|Riemann]], [[August Ritter (civil engineer)|Ritter]], [[Ernst Christian Julius Schering|Schering]], [[Heinrich Scherk|Scherk]], [[Heinrich Christian Schumacher|Schumacher]], [[Karl Georg Christian von Staudt|von Staudt]], [[Moritz Abraham Stern|Stern]], [[Georg Frederik Ursin|Ursin]]; as geoscientists [[Wolfgang Sartorius von Waltershausen|Sartorius von Waltershausen]], and [[Johann Eduard Wappäus|Wappäus]].<ref name="Reich2000" />

Gauss did not write any textbook and disliked the [[Popular science|popularization]] of scientific matters. His only attempts at popularization were his works on the date of Easter (1800/1802) and the essay ''Erdmagnetismus und Magnetometer'' of 1836.<ref name="Biermann" /> Gauss published his papers and books exclusively in [[Latin]] or [[German language|German]].{{efn|After his death, a discourse on the perturbations of Pallas in French was found among his papers, probably as a contribution to a prize competition of the French Academy of Science.{{sfn|Brendel|1929|page=211}}}}{{efn|The ''Theoria motus...'' was completed in the German language in 1806, but on request of the editor [[Friedrich Christoph Perthes]] Gauss translated it into Latin.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=90}}}} He wrote Latin in a classical style but used some customary modifications set by contemporary mathematicians.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|pp=37–38}}

[[File:Universitäts-Sternwarte Göttingen 02.jpg|thumb|The new Göttingen observatory of 1816; Gauss's living rooms were in the western wing (right)]]
[[File:Die Göttinger Sieben von Eduard Ritmüller.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Wilhelm Eduard Weber|Wilhelm Weber]] and [[Heinrich Ewald]] (first row) as members of the [[Göttingen Seven]]]]
[[File:Carl Friedrich Gauss on his Deathbed, 1855.jpg|thumb|Gauss on his deathbed (1855) (daguerreotype from Philipp Petri){{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=324}}]]
Gauss gave his inaugural lecture at Göttingen University in 1808. He described his approach to astronomy as based on reliable observations and accurate calculations, rather than on belief or empty hypothesizing.<ref name="Wittmann" /> At university, he was accompanied by a staff of other lecturers in his disciplines, who completed the educational program; these included the mathematician Thibaut with his lectures,<ref>{{cite book | author-last = Cantor | author-first = Moritz | author-link = Moritz Cantor | title = Thibaut, Bernhard Friedrich | publisher = Duncker & Humblot | date = 1894 | series = [[Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie]] | volume = 37 | pages = 745–746 | location = Leipzig | language = de | url = https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/ADB:Thibaut,_Bernhard_Friedrich}}</ref> the physicist [[Johann Tobias Mayer|Mayer]], known for his textbooks,<ref>{{cite book | author-last = Folkerts | author-first = Menso | author-link = Menso Folkerts | title = Mayer, Johann Tobias | publisher = Duncker & Humblot | date = 1990 | series = [[Neue Deutsche Biographie]] | volume = 16 | page = 530 | location = | language = de | url = https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/gnd100373267.html#ndbcontent}}</ref> his successor [[Wilhelm Eduard Weber|Weber]] since 1831, and in the observatory [[Karl Ludwig Harding|Harding]], who took the main part of lectures in practical astronomy. When the observatory was completed, Gauss occupied the western wing of the new observatory, while Harding took the eastern.<ref name="Beuermann" /> They had once been on friendly terms, but over time they became alienated, possibly – as some biographers presume – because Gauss had wished the equal-ranked Harding to be no more than his assistant or observer.<ref name="Beuermann" />{{efn|Both Gauss and Harding dropped only veiled hints on this personal problem in their correspondence. A letter to Schumacher indicates that Gauss tried to get rid of his colleague and searched for a new position for him outside of Göttingen, but without result. Apart from that, Charlotte Waldeck, Gauss's mother-in-law, pleaded with Olbers to try to provide Gauss with another position far from Göttingen.<ref name="Küssner" />}} Gauss used the new [[meridian circle]]s nearly exclusively, and kept them away from Harding, except for some very seldom joint observations.{{sfn|Brendel|1929|pp=106–108}}

[[Martin Brendel|Brendel]] subdivides Gauss's astronomic activity chronologically into seven periods, of which the years since 1820 are taken as a "period of lower astronomical activity".{{sfn|Brendel|1929|pp=7, 128}} The new, well-equipped observatory did not work as effectively as other ones; Gauss's astronomical research had the character of a one-man enterprise without a long-time observation program, and the university established a place for an assistant only after Harding died in 1834.<ref name="Küssner">{{Cite journal | last = Küssner | first = Martha | title = Friedrich Wilhelm Bessels Beziehungen zu Göttingen und Erinnerungen an ihn | journal = Mitteilungen der Gauß-Gesellschaft Göttingen | issue = 15 | pages = 3–19 | year = 1978 | language = de}}</ref>{{sfn|Brendel|1929|pp=106–108}}{{efn|Gauss's first assistant was [[Carl Wolfgang Benjamin Goldschmidt|Benjamin Goldschmidt]], and his second [[Wilhelm Klinkerfues]], who later became one of his successors.<ref name="Wittmann" />}}

Nevertheless, Gauss twice refused the opportunity to solve the problem, turning down offers from Berlin in 1810 and 1825 to become a full member of the Prussian Academy without burdening lecturing duties, as well as from [[Leipzig University]] in 1810 and from [[Vienna University]] in 1842, perhaps because of the family's difficult situation.<ref name="Küssner" /> Gauss's salary was raised from 1000 [[Reichsthaler]] in 1810 to 2500 Reichsthaler in 1824,<ref name="Beuermann" /> and in his later years he was one of the best-paid professors of the university.<ref name="Gerardy" />

When Gauss was asked for help by his colleague and friend [[Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel]] in 1810, who was in trouble at [[Königsberg University]] because of his lack of an academic title, Gauss provided a [[Honorary degree|doctorate ''honoris causa'']] for Bessel from the Philosophy Faculty of Göttingen in March 1811.{{efn|name=Bessel|Bessel never got a university education.<ref>{{cite book | last = Hamel | first = Jürgen | author-link = Jürgen Hamel | title = Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel | publisher = BSB B.G.Teubner Verlagsgesellschaft | place = Leipzig | page = 29 | year = 1984}}</ref>{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=76}}}} Gauss gave another recommendation for an honorary degree for [[Sophie Germain]] but only shortly before her death, so she never received it.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Mackinnon | first1 = Nick | year = 1990 | title = Sophie Germain, or, Was Gauss a feminist? | journal = [[The Mathematical Gazette]] | volume = 74 | issue = 470 | pages = 346–351 | publisher = The Mathematical Association | doi = 10.2307/3618130 | jstor = 3618130 | s2cid=126102577}}</ref> He also gave successful support to the mathematician [[Gotthold Eisenstein]] in Berlin.<ref>{{Cite journal | last = Biermann | first = Kurt-R. | title = Gotthold Eisenstein | journal = [[Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik]] | volume = 214 | pages = 19–30 | year = 1964 | doi = 10.1515/crll.1964.214-215.19 | language = de | url = https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN243919689_0214_0215?tify=%7B%22pages%22%3A%5B25%5D%2C%22pan%22%3A%7B%22x%22%3A0.434%2C%22y%22%3A0.442%7D%2C%22view%22%3A%22info%22%2C%22zoom%22%3A0.661%7D}}</ref>

Gauss was loyal to the [[House of Hanover]]. After King [[William IV]] died in 1837, the new Hanoverian King [[Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover|Ernest Augustus]] annulled the 1833 constitution. Seven professors, later known as the "[[Göttingen Seven]]", protested against this, among them his friend and collaborator Wilhelm Weber and Gauss's son-in-law Heinrich Ewald. All of them were dismissed, and three of them were expelled, but Ewald and Weber could stay in Göttingen. Gauss was deeply affected by this quarrel but saw no possibility to help them.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|pp=195&ndash;200}}

Gauss took part in academic administration: three times he was elected as [[Dean (education)|dean]] of the Faculty of Philosophy.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=288}} Being entrusted with the widow's [[pension fund]] of the university, he dealt with [[actuarial science]] and wrote a report on the strategy for stabilizing the benefits. He was appointed director of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Göttingen for nine years.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=288}}

Gauss remained mentally active into his old age, even while suffering from [[gout]] and general unhappiness. On 23 February 1855, he died of a heart attack in Göttingen;{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=24}} and was interred in the [[Albanifriedhof|Albani Cemetery]] there. [[Heinrich Ewald]], Gauss's son-in-law, and [[Wolfgang Sartorius von Waltershausen]], Gauss's close friend and biographer, gave eulogies at his funeral.{{sfn|Sartorius von Waltershausen|1856|p=104}}

Gauss was a successful investor and accumulated considerable wealth with stocks and securities, amounting to a value of more than 150,000 Thaler; after his death, about 18,000 Thaler were found hidden in his rooms.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=237}}

=== Gauss's brain ===
The day after Gauss's death his brain was removed, preserved, and studied by [[Rudolf Wagner]], who found its mass to be slightly above average, at {{convert|1492|g|lb|2}}.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Wagner | first = Rudolf | title = Über die typischen Verschiedenheiten der Windungen der Hemisphären und über die Lehre vom Hirngewicht, mit besondrer Rücksicht auf die Hirnbildung intelligenter Männer. Vorstudien zu einer wissenschaftlichen Morphologie und Physiologie des menschlichen Gehirns als Seelenorgan, Vol. 1 | publisher = Dieterich | year = 1860 | place = Göttingen | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YqTH2HDXgqkC&q=%C3%9Cber+die+typischen+Verschiedenheiten+der+Windungen+der+Hemisph%C3%A4ren+und+%C3%BCber+die+Lehre+vom+Hirngewicht,+mit+besondrer+R%C3%BCcksicht+auf+die+Hirnbildung+intelligenter+M%C3%A4nner.+Vorstudie}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | last = Wagner | first = Rudolf | title = Über den Hirnbau der Mikrocephalen mit vergleichender Rücksicht auf den Bau des Gehirns der normalen Menschen und der Quadrumanen. Vorstudien zu einer wissenschaftlichen Morphologie und Physiologie des menschlichen Gehirns als Seelenorgan, Vol. 2 | publisher = Dieterich | year = 1862 | place = Göttingen | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=czvfLAp94VsC&q=%C3%9Cber+den+Hirnbau+der+Mikrocephalen+mit+vergleichender+R%C3%BCcksicht+auf+den+Bau+des+Gehirns+der+normalen+Menschen+und+der+Quadrumanen.+Vorstudien+zu+einer+wissenschaftlichen+Morphologie+und+Physiologie+des+menschlichen+Gehirns+als+S}}</ref> Wagner's son [[Hermann Wagner (geographer)|Hermann]], a geographer, estimated the cerebral area to be {{convert|219588|mm2|abbr=out}} in his doctoral thesis.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Wagner | first = Hermann | author-link = Hermann Wagner (geographer) | title =  Maassbestimmungen der Oberfläche des grossen Gehirns | publisher = Georg H. Wigand | year = 1864 | place = Cassel & Göttingen | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8ToAAAAAQAAJ&q=Maassbestimmungen+der+Oberfl%C3%A4che+des+grossen+Gehirns|language=de|trans-title=Measurements of the surface of the large brain}}</ref> In 2013, a neurobiologist at the [[Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry]] in Göttingen discovered that Gauss's brain had been mixed up soon after the first investigations, due to mislabelling, with that of the physician [[Conrad Heinrich Fuchs]], who died in Göttingen a few months after Gauss.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Schweizer | first1 = Renate | last2 = Wittmann | first2 = Axel | last3 = Frahm | first3 = Jens | author-link3 = Jens Frahm | title = A rare anatomical variation newly identifies the brains of C.F. Gauss and C.H. Fuchs in a collection at the University of Göttingen | journal = Brain | volume = 137 | issue = 4 | page = e269 | year = 2014 | doi = 10.1093/brain/awt296 | pmid = 24163274 | doi-access = free | hdl = 11858/00-001M-0000-0014-C6F0-6 | hdl-access = free }} (with further references)</ref> A further investigation showed no remarkable anomalies in the brains of either person. Thus, all investigations of Gauss's brain until 1998, except the first ones of Rudolf and Hermann Wagner, actually refer to the brain of Fuchs.<ref>{{cite web|website=Max Planck Society |url=https://www.mpg.de/7589532/Carl_Friedrich_Gauss_brain |title=Unravelling the true identity of the brain of Carl Friedrich Gauss}}</ref>

=== Family ===
[[File:Minna Gauß geb. Waldeck, 002.jpg|thumb|upright|Gauss's second wife Wilhelmine Waldeck]]
Gauss married Johanna Osthoff on 9 October 1805 in St. Catherine's church in Brunswick.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=66}} They had two sons and one daughter: Joseph (1806–1873), Wilhelmina (1808–1840), and Louis (1809–1810). Johanna died on 11 October 1809, one month after the birth of Louis, who himself died a few months later.{{sfn|Wußing|1982|p=44}} Gauss chose the first names of his children in honour of [[Giuseppe Piazzi]], Wilhelm Olbers, and Karl Ludwig Harding, the discoverers of the first asteroids.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|pp=77, 88, 93}}

On 4 August 1810, Gauss married Wilhelmine (Minna) Waldeck, a friend of his first wife, with whom he had three more children: Eugen (later Eugene) (1811–1896), Wilhelm (later William) (1813–1879), and Therese (1816–1864). Minna Gauss died on 12 September 1831 after being seriously ill for more than a decade.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Florian |last1=Cajori|author-link1=Florian Cajori |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1626244 |title=Carl Friedrich Gauss and his children|journal=Science|volume= 9|issue=229|pages=697–704|date=19 May 1899 |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science|jstor= 1626244 |series=New Series |doi=10.1126/science.9.229.697 |pmid=17817224 |bibcode=1899Sci.....9..697C }}</ref> Therese then took over the household and cared for Gauss for the rest of his life; after her father's death, she married actor Constantin Staufenau.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=374}} Her sister Wilhelmina married the orientalist [[Heinrich Ewald]].{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=206}} Gauss's mother Dorothea lived in his house from 1817 until she died in 1839.<ref name="scientificmonthly"/>

The eldest son Joseph, while still a schoolboy, helped his father as an assistant during the survey campaign in the summer of 1821. After a short time at university, in 1824 Joseph joined the [[Hanoverian army]] and assisted in surveying again in 1829. In the 1830s he was responsible for the enlargement of the survey network into the western parts of the kingdom. With his geodetical qualifications, he left the service and engaged in the construction of the railway network as director of the [[Royal Hanoverian State Railways]]. In 1836 he studied the railroad system in the US for some months.<ref name="Gerardy">{{Cite journal | last = Gerardy | first = Theo | title = C. F. Gauß und seine Söhne | journal = Mitteilungen der Gauß-Gesellschaft Göttingen | issue = 3 | pages = 25–35 | year = 1966 | language = de}}</ref>{{efn|On this journey he met the geodesist [[Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler]], who was a scientific correspondent of Carl Friedrich Gauss.<ref>{{Cite journal | last = Gerardy | first = Theo | title = Geodäten als Korrespondenten von Carl Friedrich Gaus | journal = Allgemeine Vermessungs-Nachrichten | issue =84 | pages = 150–160 | year = 1977 | language = de}} p. 157</ref>{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=286}} }}

Eugen left Göttingen in September 1830 and emigrated to the United States, where he spent five years with the army. He then worked for the [[American Fur Company]] in the Midwest. He later moved to [[Missouri]] and became a successful businessman.<ref name="Gerardy" /> Wilhelm married a niece of the astronomer [[Friedrich Bessel|Bessel]];<ref>{{cite journal | author-last = Wolf | author-first = Armin | title = Der Pädagoge und Philosoph Johann Conrad Fallenstein (1731–1813) – Genealogische Beziehungen zwischen [[Max Weber]], Gauß und Bessel | journal = Genealogie | volume = 7 | year = 1964 | language = de | pages = 266–269}}</ref> he then moved to Missouri, started as a farmer and became wealthy in the shoe business in [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]] in later years.<ref>{{cite journal | author-last = Weinberger | author-first = Joseph | title = Carl Friedrich Gauß 1777–1855 und seine Nachkommen | journal = Archiv für Sippenforschung und alle verwandten Gebiete | volume = 43/44 | issue = 66 | year = 1977 | language = de | pages = 73–98}}</ref> Eugene and William have numerous descendants in America, but the Gauss descendants left in Germany all derive from Joseph, as the daughters had no children.<ref name="Gerardy" />

<gallery>
File:Joseph Gauß, 001.jpg|Joseph Gauss
File:Joseph Gauß, 003.jpg|Sophie Gauss née Erythropel<br>Joseph's wife
File:Minna Ewald geb. Gauß, 003.jpg|Wilhelmina Gauss
File:Ewald, Georg Heinrich August (1803-1875).jpg|[[Heinrich Ewald]]<br>Wilhelmina's husband
File:Eugen Gauß, 001.jpg|Eugen (Eugene) Gauss
File:Eugen Gauß, 003.jpg|Henrietta Gauss née Fawcett<br>Eugene's wife
File:Wilhelm Gauß, 002.jpg|Wilhelm (Charles William) Gauss
File:Wilhelm Gauß, 001.jpg|Louisa Aletta Gauss née Fallenstein<br>William's wife
File:Therese Staufenau geb. Gauß, 008.jpg|Therese Gauss
File:Therese Staufenau geb. Gauß, 010.jpg|Constantin Staufenau<br>Therese's husband
</gallery>

=== Personality ===
==== Scholar ====
[[File:Carl Friedrich Gauß, Karikatur von Abraham Gotthelf Kästner, 1795.jpg|thumb|A student draws his professor of mathematics: Caricature of [[Abraham Gotthelf Kästner]] by Gauss (1795){{efn|Following Bolyai's handwritten Hungarian text at the bottom, Gauss intentionally characterized Kästner with the added the wrong addition.}}]]
[[File:Carl Friedrich Gauß, 003.jpg|thumb|upright|A student draws his professor of mathematics: Gauss sketched by his student [[Johann Benedict Listing]], 1830]]
In the first two decades of the 19th century, Gauss was the only important mathematician in Germany comparable to the leading French mathematicians.<ref name="Schubring">{{cite book | last1 = Schubring | first1 = Gert | editor-last1 = Fauvel | editor-first1 = John | editor-last2 = Flood | editor-first2 = Raymond | editor-last3 = Wilson | editor-first3 = Robin | editor-link1 = John Fauvel | editor-link2 = Raymond Flood (mathematician)| editor-link3 = Robin Wilson (mathematician) | title = Möbius and his band: Mathematics and Astronomy in Nineteenth-century Germany  | publisher = Oxford University Press | date = 1993 | pages = 21–33 | chapter = The German mathematical community}}</ref>  His ''Disquisitiones Arithmeticae'' was the first mathematical book from Germany to be translated into the French language.<ref>{{cite book | author-last = Schubring | author-first = Gert | title = Geschichte der Mathematik in ihren Kontexten | publisher = Birkhäuser| date = 2021 | pages = 133–134 | language = de}}</ref>

Gauss was "in front of the new development" with documented research since 1799, his wealth of new ideas, and his rigour of demonstration.{{sfn|Klein|1894|pp=100–101}} In contrast to previous mathematicians like [[Leonhard Euler]], who let their readers take part in their reasoning, including certain erroneous deviations from the correct path,{{sfn|Klein|1979|pp=5–6}} Gauss introduced a new style of direct and complete exposition that did not attempt to show the reader the author's train of thought.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=217}}

{{blockquote|Gauss was the first to restore that ''rigor'' of demonstration which we admire in the ancients and which had been forced unduly into the background by the exclusive interest of the preceding period in ''new'' developments.|source={{harvnb|Klein|1894|p=101}} }}

But for himself, he propagated a quite different ideal, given in a letter to Farkas Bolyai as follows:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/briefwechselzwi00gausgoog/page/n124/mode/2up|title=Briefwechsel zwischen Carl Friedrich Gauss und Wolfgang Bolyai|first=Carl Friedrich Gauss|last=Farkas Bólyai|date=22 April 1899|publisher=B. G. Teubner|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
{{blockquote|It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment. When I have clarified and exhausted a subject, then I turn away from it, in order to go into darkness again.|source={{harvnb|Dunnington|2004|p=416}} }}

His posthumous papers, his scientific [[Gauss's diary|diary]],<ref>{{cite journal | author-link1 = Felix Klein | editor-last = Klein | editor-first = Felix | title = Gauß' wissenschaftliches Tagebuch 1796–1814 | doi=10.1007/BF01449013 | year = 1903 | journal = [[Mathematische Annalen]] | volume = 57 | pages = 1–34 | s2cid = 119641638 | language = la, de | url = https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN235181684_0057?tify=%7B%22pages%22%3A%5B8%2C9%5D%2C%22view%22%3A%22info%22%7D}} p. 2</ref> and short glosses in his own textbooks show that he empirically worked to a great extent.{{sfn|Bachmann|1922|pp=4–6}}{{sfn|Schlesinger|1933|p=18}} He was a lifelong busy and enthusiastic calculator, working extraordinarily quickly and checking his results through estimation. Nevertheless, his calculations were not always free from mistakes.{{sfn|Maennchen|1930|pp=64–65}} He coped with the enormous workload by using skillful tools.{{sfn|Maennchen|1930|pp=4–9}} Gauss used numerous [[mathematical table]]s, examined their exactness, and constructed new tables on various matters for personal use.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Reich | first1 = Karin | editor-last = Mittler | editor-first = Elmar | title = "Wie der Blitz einschlägt, hat sich das Räthsel gelöst" – Carl Friedrich Gauß in Göttingen | publisher = Niedrsächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek | date = 2005 | series = Göttinger Bibliotheksschriften 30 | pages = 73–86 | chapter = Logarithmentafeln – Gauß' "tägliches Arbeitsgeräth" | isbn = 3-930457-72-5 | language = de | url = http://webdoc.sub.gwdg.de/ebook/e/2005/gausscd/html/Katalog.pdf}}</ref> He developed new tools for effective calculation, for example the [[Gaussian elimination]].<ref>{{Citation | last1=Althoen | first1=Steven C. | last2=McLaughlin | first2=Renate | title=Gauss–Jordan reduction: a brief history | doi=10.2307/2322413 | year=1987 | journal=[[American Mathematical Monthly|The American Mathematical Monthly]] | issn=0002-9890 | volume=94 | issue=2 | pages=130–142 | jstor=2322413 | publisher=Mathematical Association of America}}</ref> Gauss's calculations and the tables he prepared were often more precise than practically necessary.{{sfn|Maennchen|1930|p=3}} Very likely, this method gave him additional material for his theoretical work.{{sfn|Maennchen|1930|pp=4–9}}{{sfn|Bachmann|1922|p=5}}

[[File:GaussSiegel1777-1855.png|thumb|upright|Gauss's [[Seal (emblem)|seal]] with his motto ''Pauca sed Matura'']]
Gauss was only willing to publish work when he considered it complete and above criticism. This [[perfectionism (psychology)|perfectionism]] was in keeping with the motto of his personal [[Seal (emblem)|seal]] {{lang|la|Pauca sed Matura}} ("Few, but Ripe"). Many colleagues encouraged him to publicize new ideas and sometimes rebuked him if he hesitated too long, in their opinion. Gauss defended himself by claiming that the initial discovery of ideas was easy, but preparing a presentable elaboration was a demanding matter for him, for either lack of time or "serenity of mind".<ref name="Biermann">{{Cite journal | last = Biermann | first = Kurt-R. | title = Über die Beziehungen zwischen C. F. Gauß und F. W. Bessel | journal = Mitteilungen der Gauß-Gesellschaft Göttingen | issue = 3 | pages = 7–20 | year = 1966 | language = de}}</ref> Nevertheless, he published many short communications of urgent content in various journals, but left a considerable literary estate, too.{{sfn|Klein|1979|p=29}}{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|pp=420–430}} Gauss referred to mathematics as "the queen of sciences" and arithmetics as "the queen of mathematics",{{sfn|Sartorius von Waltershausen|1856|p=79}} and supposedly once espoused a belief in the necessity of immediately understanding [[Euler's identity]] as a benchmark pursuant to becoming a first-class mathematician.<ref name="First-Class">{{cite book |last=Derbyshire |first=John |url=https://archive.org/details/primeobsessionbe00derb_0/page/202 |title=Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics |publisher=Joseph Henry Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-309-08549-6 |place=Washington, DC |page=202 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

On certain occasions, Gauss claimed that the ideas of another scholar had already been in his possession previously. Thus his concept of priority as "the first to discover, not the first to publish" differed from that of his scientific contemporaries.<ref name="Stigler">{{Cite journal | last = [[Stephen Stigler|Stigler]] | first = Stephen M. | title = Gauss and the Invention of Least Squares | journal = [[Annals of Statistics]] | volume = 9 | issue = 3 | pages = 465–474 | year = 1981| doi = 10.1214/aos/1176345451 | doi-access = free }}</ref> In contrast to his perfectionism in presenting mathematical ideas, his citations were criticized as negligent. He justified himself with an unusual view of correct citation practice: he would only give complete references, with respect to the previous authors of importance, which no one should ignore, but citing in this way would require knowledge of the history of science and more time than he wished to spend.<ref name="Biermann" />

==== Private man ====
Soon after Gauss's death, his friend Sartorius published the first biography (1856), written in a rather enthusiastic style. Sartorius saw him as a serene and forward-striving man with childlike modesty,{{sfn|Sartorius von Waltershausen|1856|p=102}} but also of "iron character"{{sfn|Sartorius von Waltershausen|1856|p=95}} with an unshakeable strength of mind.{{sfn|Sartorius von Waltershausen|1856|p=8}} Apart from his closer circle, others regarded him as reserved and unapproachable "like an [[Twelve Olympians|Olympian]] sitting enthroned on the summit of science".{{sfn|Wußing|1982|p=41}} His close contemporaries agreed that Gauss was a man of difficult character. He often refused to accept compliments. His visitors were occasionally irritated by his grumpy behaviour, but a short time later his mood could change, and he would become a charming, open-minded host.<ref name="Biermann" /> Gauss disliked polemic natures; together with his colleague [[Johann Friedrich Ludwig Hausmann|Hausmann]] he opposed to a call for [[Justus Liebig]] on a university chair in Göttingen, "because he was always involved in some polemic."{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=253}}

[[File:Göttingen, Kurze Straße 15, 001.jpg|thumb|Gauss's residence from 1808 to 1816 in the first floor]]
Gauss's life was overshadowed by severe problems in his family. When his first wife Johanna suddenly died shortly after the birth of their third child, he revealed the grief in a last letter to his dead wife in the style of an ancient [[threnody]], the most personal of his surviving documents.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://gauss.adw-goe.de/handle/gauss/2086 | title = Letter from Carl Friedrich Gauss to Johanna Gauss, 23. October 1809| website = Der komplette Briefwechsel von Carl Friedrich Gauss | date = 23 October 1809| publisher = Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen | access-date = 26 March 2023}}</ref>{{sfn| Dunnington|2004|pp=94–95}} His second wife and his two daughters suffered from [[tuberculosis]].{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=206, 374}} In a letter to [[Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel|Bessel]], dated December 1831, Gauss hinted at his distress, describing himself as "the victim of the worst domestic sufferings".<ref name="Biermann" />

Because of his wife's illness, both younger sons were educated for some years in [[Celle]], far from Göttingen. The military career of his elder son Joseph ended after more than two decades at the poorly paid rank of [[first lieutenant]], although he had acquired a considerable knowledge of geodesy. He needed financial support from his father even after he was married.<ref name="Gerardy" /> The second son Eugen shared a good measure of his father's talent in computation and languages but had a lively and sometimes rebellious character. He wanted to study philology, whereas Gauss wanted him to become a lawyer. Having run up debts and caused a scandal in public,<ref name="gausschildren">{{cite web | url = https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~schmblss/home/Letters/Gauss/1898-12-21.htm | title = Letter: Charles Henry Gauss to Florian Cajori – 21 December 1898 | access-date = 25 March 2023}}</ref> Eugen suddenly left Göttingen under dramatic circumstances in September 1830 and emigrated via Bremen to the United States. He wasted the little money he had taken to start, after which his father refused further financial support.<ref name="Gerardy" /> The youngest son Wilhelm wanted to qualify for agricultural administration, but had difficulties getting an appropriate education, and eventually emigrated as well. Only Gauss's youngest daughter Therese accompanied him in his last years of life.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=374}}

In his later years Gauss habitually collected various types of useful or useless numerical data, such as the number of paths from his home to certain places in Göttingen or peoples' ages in days; he congratulated [[Alexander von Humboldt|Humboldt]] in December 1851 for having reached the same age as [[Isaac Newton]] at his death, calculated in days.{{sfn|Sartorius von Waltershausen|1856|p=71}}

Beyond his excellent knowledge of [[Latin]], he was also acquainted with modern languages. Gauss read both classical and modern literature, and English and French works in the original languages.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=241}}{{efn|The first book he loaned from the university library in 1795 was the novel ''[[Clarissa; or, The History of a Young Lady|Clarissa]]'' from [[Samuel Richardson]].<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Reich | first1 = Karin | editor-last = Mittler | editor-first = Elmar | title = "Wie der Blitz einschlägt, hat sich das Räthsel gelöst" – Carl Friedrich Gauß in Göttingen | publisher = Niedrsächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek | date = 2005 | series = Göttinger Bibliotheksschriften 30 | pages = 105–115 | chapter = Gauß' geistige Väter: nicht nur "summus Newton", sondern auch "summus Euler" | language = de | isbn = 3-930457-72-5 | url = http://webdoc.sub.gwdg.de/ebook/e/2005/gausscd/html/Katalog.pdf}}</ref>}} His favorite English author was [[Walter Scott]], his favorite German [[Jean Paul]]. At the age of 62, he began to teach himself [[Russian language|Russian]], very likely to understand scientific writings from Russia, among them those of [[Nikolai Lobachevsky|Lobachevsky]] on non-Euclidean geometry.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Lehfeldt | first1 = Werner | author-link  = Werner Lehfeldt | editor-last = Mittler | editor-first = Elmar | title = "Wie der Blitz einschlägt, hat sich das Räthsel gelöst" – Carl Friedrich Gauß in Göttingen | publisher = Niedrsächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek | date = 2005 | series = Göttinger Bibliotheksschriften 30 | pages = 302–310 | chapter = Carl Friedrich Gauß' Beschäftigung mit der russischen Sprache | language = de | isbn = 3-930457-72-5 | url = http://webdoc.sub.gwdg.de/ebook/e/2005/gausscd/html/Katalog.pdf}}</ref>{{sfn|Wußing|1982|p=80}} Gauss liked singing and went to concerts.{{sfn|Wußing|1982|p=81}} He was a busy newspaper reader; in his last years, he would visit an academic press salon of the university every noon.{{sfn|Sartorius von Waltershausen|1856|p=94}} Gauss did not care much for philosophy, and mocked the "splitting hairs of the so-called metaphysicians", by which he meant proponents of the contemporary school of ''[[Naturphilosophie]]''.{{sfn|Wußing|1982|p=79}}

Gauss had an "aristocratic and through and through conservative nature", with little respect for people's intelligence and morals, following the motto "[[Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur|mundus vult decipi]]".{{sfn|Sartorius von Waltershausen|1856|p=94}} He disliked Napoleon and his system and was horrified by violence and revolution of all kinds. Thus he condemned the methods of the [[Revolutions of 1848]], though he agreed with some of their aims, such as that of a unified Germany.{{sfn|Sartorius von Waltershausen|1856|p=95}}{{efn|The political background was the confusing situation of the [[German Confederation]] with 39 nearly independent states, the sovereigns of three of them being Kings of other countries (Netherlands, Danmark, United Kingdom), whereas the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] and the [[Austrian Empire]] extended widely over the frontiers of the Confederation.}} He had a low estimation of the constitutional system and he criticized parliamentarians of his time for their perceived ignorance and logical errors.{{sfn|Sartorius von Waltershausen|1856|p=94}}

Some Gauss biographers have speculated on his religious beliefs. He sometimes said "God arithmetizes"{{sfn|Sartorius von Waltershausen|1856|p=97}} and "I succeeded – not on account of my hard efforts, but by the grace of the Lord."<ref>{{cite web | url = https://gauss.adw-goe.de/handle/gauss/731 | title = Letter from Carl Friedrich Gauss to Wilhelm Olbers, 3 September 1805| website = Der komplette Briefwechsel von Carl Friedrich Gauss | date = 23 October 1809| publisher = Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen | access-date = 26 March 2023}}</ref> Gauss was a member of the [[Lutheran church]], like most of the population in northern Germany, but it seems that he did not believe all Lutheran [[dogma]] or understand the Bible fully literally.{{sfn|Dunnington|2004|p=300}} According to Sartorius, Gauss' [[religious tolerance]],  "insatiable thirst for truth" and sense of justice were motivated by his religious convictions.{{sfn|Sartorius von Waltershausen|1856|p=100}}