We mentioned the famous story of Gauss who as a young
student was given the task to sum up the first 100 integers.
The story is nicely told in the great movie
Measuring the world. Here is that scene.
Buettner: 1 plus 2, plus 3, plus 4 plus 5 plus... 6... plus 7, and
continue in the same manner, until 100. And that nobody disturbs me
until you have the solution. - Gauss gives up?
Kid: he will get punished!
Buettner: Where do you have this from?
Gauss: this was not the issue, we were required to add up all the numbers
from 1 to 100. 1 and 100 gives 101, 2 and 99 gives 101, 3 and 98 gives 101.
Always 101. One can do this 50 times. And 50 times 101 is 5050.
Buettner: Gauss: go to the corner! Shut up and stay here after class.
Buettner: God sees everything. You know that. Gauss: yes.
Buettner: come here. Your word of honor: did you do this yourself?
Gauss: that was not difficult. One has only to ....
Buettner: The summation formula of the geometric progression. Higher arithmetic.
Take it with you. Read it.
[ Narrator: The teacher Buettner, who would have guessed, was a kind of mathematician.
He had published papers and one glorious day even got a reply of Immanuel Kant.
But because his hard work and power was not sufficient, he became a school teacher. ]
Gauss: My father can not pay this.
Buettner: you will in the future take home many books and not pay.
But be careful! One stain, one dog ear or a ripped page, and you will
feel the stick, so that God will have mercy with you. Go now.
