scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1512893

MaRDI QIDQ4508593zbMATH OpenFDO

Authors Karin Reich

Publication date 16 November 2000

zbMATH Keywords

Christoph Friedrich von PfleidererGaussJohann Friedrich PfaffJohannes Erchinger

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

History of mathematics in the 19th century (01A55)

Review text

The surprising discovery of the constructibility of the regular 17gon by Gauss in 1796 was and is surely his most popular result. Karin Reich analyzes the early reception of this discovery in Germany and in France. The first mathematicians engaged in the geometrical construction of the regular 17gon were Johann Friedrich Pfaff (1765-1825) and Christoph Friedrich von Pfleiderer (1736-1821). A considerable part of the article deals with the interesting and somewhat erratic personality of Johannes Erchinger (1788-1829), who also performed such a construction. Erchinger's construction was reviewed by Gauss in 1825, who praised the elementary and most careful approach. This approach is outlined in more detail. The author conjectures that Pfleiderer suggested the topic to Erchinger and gives some evidence to support her conjecture. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0940.00069].

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Cited in

(2)

• The difficulty of bringing Gauss's Disquisitiones arithmeticae in the hands of readers (1801--1804). Some new facts and a reconstruction
• Sur une construction du polygone régulier de 17 cotés, due à André-Marie Ampère, d'après des documents conservés dans les archives de l'Académie des Sciences

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