Surveyors World / Daniel Kehlmann A very interesting and captivating book on the life and doings of the explorer Humboldt and mathematician Gauss. Two lives dedicated to their respective passion told with humor, insight and penetration. It must be remembered that these two geniuses lived in a time when "we still taught that the center of the Earth was cold and solid, that the mountains were formed from chemical precipitates of a primitive ocean pulling out '! "Humboldt was much to do to impose its views. As for Gauss, here is a story that shows his precocious genius. Büttner, (the teacher) had asked to add up all the numbers from 1 to 100. It would take heures'Gauss, after three minutes had the solution on his slate, a single line: 5050. Büttner asked what it meant, who thought to be quiet for a few hours. And Gauss explained: 100 + 1 = 101, 2 = 99 + 101 + 98 = 101 3. It was enough to repeat 50 times: 50x101 = 5050; The teacher then asked if Gauss had calculated this alone. He swore and was entrusted with a formidable mathematical work he devoured in one night, Büttner failing to believe. Gauss was also one of the first to question the Euclidean geometry. Definitely a book to read by all those that train of thought towards the discovery interested.
