Theory of the Combination of Observations Least Subject to Errors

Whereas Euler was the most prolific mathematician of the eighteenth century, Gauss was the most profound. His motto, "pauca sed matura" ("few, but ripe"), reflected his belief that one should publish only the most developed and complete expositions of results as possible.

His most influential work was in number theory. Disquisitiones Arithmeticae was remarkable in the number and difficulty of problems it solved and still remains a useful introduction and guide to development of the number theory. In addition to his important contributions to physics and astronomy, Gauss was also an early contributor to the theory of statistics--his method of least squares and results concerning the "Gaussian" or normal curve are still essential today.

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