Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss, 1777 — 1855, was a mathematician of German culture.
Several important mathematical concepts are attached to his name, mainly the bell shaped curve which is of central use in statistics and probabilities.
Less known are the Gauss integers which are complex numbers of the form p + iq where p and q are rational integers. The set of Gauss integers has good properties and in particular the factoriality. Curiously, the number 2 which is prime in the set of rational integers is no longer so in the set of Gauss integers since one can write 2 = (1+i)(1-i) where the two factors are non-invertible in the set of Gauss integers.
P. M.
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