Timeline for Gauss's views on pure mathematics
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
5 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 13, 2012 at 3:01 | comment | added | Zavosh | @Igor: According to wikipedia, it was his grandson who played the chess game. | |
| Apr 24, 2012 at 15:11 | comment | added | stankewicz | Yes, but the sentiment behind that quote was more along the lines of "No one remembers Shakespeare's children." It's better to include the full quote. "He - that is Grandfather - did not want any of his sons to attempt mathematics for he said he did not think any of them would surpass him and he did not want the name lowered. Probably he felt the same in a measure of any other line of scientific study. " | |
| Apr 23, 2012 at 1:17 | comment | added | user1241 | I don't doubt that the Duke believed pure mathematics important. But I thought maybe Gauss might have misread him. Link-following leads to a letter from Gauss' grandson to Cajori <gausschildren.org/genwiki/index.php?title=Letter:GAUSS,Charles_Henry_to_Florian_Cajori-_1898-12-21> that says Gauss didn't want his children to lower the family name by entering mathematics. | |
| Apr 23, 2012 at 1:13 | comment | added | Igor Rivin | If the Duke was not an idiot, he understood that having the likes of Gauss under his wing was good for his prestige (sort of like the space program, but cheaper). Since he did pay Gauss for several decades, he (the duke) presumably was a reasonably wise man. I always wondered if he (the duke again) is the same guy crushed by Morphy, or whether that was his son. | |
| Apr 23, 2012 at 1:05 | history | answered | user1241 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |