Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss was born on the 30th of April 1777 in Brunswick within the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. His father Gebhard Dietrich worked as a butcher and bricklayer while his mother Dorothea remained nearly illiterate.
Carl Friedrich Gauss published Disquisitiones Arithmeticae in 1801 which consolidated number theory as a discipline covering elementary and algebraic aspects. The text presented the law of quadratic reciprocity with first two proofs developed during this period and introduced the triple bar symbol for congruence enabling clean presentation of modular arithmetic.
Gauss predicted the position for December 1801 rediscovery accurate within half degree using comprehensive approximation methods created specifically for purpose. Franz Xaver von Zach identified object near predicted position on 7 and the 31st of December at Gotha while Heinrich Olbers found it independently on 1 and the 2nd of January in Bremen.
Carl Friedrich Gauss died on the 23rd of February 1855 after keeping the chair until his death from November 1807 when the University of Göttingen hired him as full professor and director of the astronomical observatory. He gave lectures continuously from 1808 until 1854 despite complaining about teaching burdens.
King George IV issued order on the 9th of May 1820 directing triangulation project across Kingdom of Hanover which Gauss directed personal fieldwork from Thuringia south to Elbe river north during summers 1821 through 1825. Triangle between Hoher Hagen Großer Inselsberg and Brocken reached maximum size of one hundred kilometers requiring cutting lanes through vegetation for signal points.