“If the theory of numbers could be employed for any practical and obviously honourable purpose, if it could be turned directly to the furtherance of human happiness or the relief of human suffering, as physiology and even chemistry can, then surely neither Gauss nor any other mathematician would have been so foolish as to decry or regret such applications. But science works for evil as well as for good; and both Gauss and lesser mathematicians may be justified in rejoicing that there is one science at any rate, and that their own, whose very remoteness from ordinary human activities should keep it gentle and clean.” ScienceEvilMathematicsGoodHonorablePracticalApplicationsNumber TheoryGauss Book:A Mathematician's Apology Source: A Mathematician's Apology
“The moral high ground is a lovely place. It won’t stop a missile, though. It won’t alter the trajectory of a gauss round.” MoralityMoralsRealistGaussMissile Book:Cibola Burn Source: Cibola Burn
“Thou, nature, art my goddess; to thy laws my services are bound... {His second motto, from King Lear by Shakespeare}” NatureScientistServiceGoddessMottoShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareNatural LawsKing LearGauss Author:Carl Friedrich Gauss
“The great masters of modern analysis are Lagrange, Laplace, and Gauss, who were contemporaries. It is interesting to note the marked contrast in their styles. Lagrange is perfect both in form and matter, he is careful to explain his procedure, and though his arguments are general they are easy to follow. Laplace on the other hand explains nothing, is indifferent to style, and, if satisfied that his results are correct, is content to leave them either with no proof or with a faulty one. Gauss is as exact and elegant as Lagrange, but even more difficult to follow than Laplace, for he removes every trace of the analysis by which he reached his results, and studies to give a proof which while rigorous shall be as concise and synthetical as possible.” ScienceInterestingStyleMastersArgumentPerfectionDifficultyPraiseProofEleganceScientistsLaplaceLagrangeGaussJoseph Louis LagrangePierre Simon LaplaceCarl Friedrich GaussModern Analysis Book:A Short Account of the History of Mathematics Source: A Short Account of the History of Mathematics
“Replying two weeks later he states his opinion of Fermat’s Last Theorem. “I am very much obliged for your news concerning the Paris prize. But I confess that Fermat’s Theorem as an isolated proposition has very little interest for me, because I could easily lay down a multitude of such propositions, which one could neither prove nor dispose of.” MathematicsFermat S Last TheoremGauss Book:Men of Mathematics Source: Men of Mathematics