Saylor MA 304 Topics in Applied Mathematics

Abstract

Mathematics was coined the queen of sciences by Carl Friedrich Gauss, one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. The name of Gauss is associated with essentially all areas of mathematics. Therefore to him, and most of the great mathematicians before the end of the nineteenth century, there was really no clear boundary between pure mathematics and applied math-ematics. To ensure financial independence, Gauss choice a stable career in astronomy, which is one of the oldest sciences and was perhaps the most popu-lar one during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In his study of celestial motion and orbits and a diversity of disciplines later in his career, including (in chronological order): geodesy, magnetism, dioptrics, and actuarial science, Gauss has developed a vast volume of mathematical methods and tools that are still instrumental to our current study of applied mathematics