Some direct and remote relations of Gauss with Belgian mathematicians (Q613105)

The author was professor at Louvain; he therefore has great interest in Gauss's relationship to Belgian mathematicians. The number one is Adolph Quetelet (1796--1874), who was in correspondence with Gauss. Both scientists shared great interest in terrestrial magnetism and in statistics. In 1834 Quetelet became permanent secretary of the Royal Academy of Brussels and in 1841 Gauss became a corresponding member. As far as statistics is concerned it was Quetelet who contributed very much to popularize Gauss's curve, which was later called the bell-shaped curve. The last two chapters are devoted to Belgian mathematician Charles Jean de La Vallée Poussin (1866--1962), who was able to present the first proof of Gauss's prime number theorem in 1896, about hundred years after Gauss's suggestion. But La Vallée Poussin also contributed to potential theory, which was also a research field of Gauss. The author suggests that Gauss's idea to publish only perfect research results ist not fruitful. Although the speculations, however, inspire the imagination of future scientists. So the author asserts that ``Gauss' legacy has been and will remain an invaluable treasure for generations of mathematicians''.