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Re: Towards a basis for Bruce Stark's Tables
From: Fred Hebard
Date: 2003 Jan 4, 01:20 -0500
From: Fred Hebard
Date: 2003 Jan 4, 01:20 -0500
Below is a link to a three-page history of Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855). He was quite a guy. The Gaussian distribution, Gaussian elimination, Gaussian logarithms, and Gauss' formulas for spherical trig are all named after him. He invented the method of least squares. A lot of this work was directed to problems related to astronomy, much of which was driven by the great work of the Nautical Almanac. Dr. Kim characterizes him as one of those rare geniuses who could combine work in theoretical and applied mathematics. http://www.engr.utk.edu/~dkim/gauss.ps Still haven't gotten those Gaussian logarithms fired up, but finding this was a delight. -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick V. Hebard, PhD Email: mailto:Fred@acf.org Staff Pathologist, Meadowview Research Farms Web: http://www.acf.org American Chestnut Foundation Phone: (276) 944-4631 14005 Glenbrook Ave. Fax: (276) 944-0934 Meadowview, VA 24361
