Editing Carl Friedrich Gauss (section)

=== 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Britain|George II]] and built on a converted fortification tower,{{sfn|Brendel|1929|pp=81–82}} with usable, but partly out-of-date instruments.{{sfn|Brendel|1929|p=49}} The construction of a new observatory had been approved by Prince-elector [[George III]] in principle since 1802, and the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}}