GAUSS, Robert (1851 - 1913)
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Obituary
ROBERT GAUSS, grandson of KARL FRIEDERICH GAUSS, the most distinguished mathematician of the last century, died in Denver on Sunday, January 19th. He had been editorial writer on the Denver Republican staff for the past twenty-nine years, and was a man of wide culture in historical and scientific subjects, and a most kindly and lovable character. He had given much time to experiments upon the growth and selection of grains and vegetables under semi-arid conditions of development, and a bill is now before Congress for the establishment of an agricultural station in Colorado to continue the research which he had carried on entirely from his own funds.
He was 61 years of age, and the son of EUGENE GAUSS, formerly of St. Louis. His brother. CHARLES HENRY GAUSS, of St. Charles, Missouri, died within a few hours of ROBERT GAUSS, both brothers from the same cause, heart disease. A sister and two brothers survive them. There are also cousins in this country, descendants of the great German mathematician.
The Lick Observatory possesses a portrait of KARL FRIEDERICH GAUSS, presented by the grandson, ROBERT GAUSS, nearly twenty years ago. There is also a framed autograph letter in our collection, written by the grandfather in 1844 to his son EUGENE, who was married in this country in that year. The letter had been carefully treasured by ROBERT GAUSS until he gave it to the observatory for preservation. R. H. T.
Source
Publications By Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Published by Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 1913 not exactly an obituary, but...
1913
BRAIN OF ROBERT GAUSS WEIGHS 62 OUNCES
SAYS PAPER ------ Brilliant Man, Well Known to Our People, Has Larger Brain Than His Grandfather. ------
Robert Gauss, whose childhood was spent in St. Charles, but who died recently at Denver, Colo., developed a brain of greater weight than that of his grandfather, a noted German astronomer and mathematician.
From a New York paper we clip the following information.
St. Charles, Mo.
Denver, Col., Jan. 24.--In compliance with the expressed wish of the late Robert Gauss, his brain was removed for the purpose of weighing and examining the same and comparing it with that of his distinguished grandfather, Karl Frederick Gauss, the great German mathematician.
The operation was performed by Dr. R. W. Arndt and the brain weighed and photographed. As expected it was found to be unusually large. Its weight with wrappings, which were very light, was sixty-two ounces.
Mr. Gauss was a well known editorial writer. The brain of his distinguished grandfather weighed 52.7 ounces. ------
The average male brain weighs about 48 ounces and the average female brain 43 1-2 ounces. In many men of great intellectual eminence the brain weight has been large. Cuvier's weighed 64 1-2 ounces, Abercrombie's 63 ounces and Goodsir's 57 1-2 ounces.
"Brains over 60 ounces," says the Encyclopedia Britannica, "are frequently found in quite undistinguished people." The same authority says that, while idiots sometimes have brains that weigh as little as 8 1-2 ounces, "it is doubtful if normal intelligence is possible with a brain weighing less than 32 ounces." -----
[Robert Gauss died in 1913]
Source
Newspaper clipping from the Minna Gauss Reeves collection; transcribed to softcopy by Susan D. Chambless.
References
On this Site
Family
Spouse(s):
Children:
Writings
- GAUSS, Robert to Henrietta Fawcett Gauss - 1884-12-01
- GAUSS, Robert to Charles Henry Gauss -1911-08-14
- GAUSS, Robert to Felix Klein - 1912-09-03
Letters Received
- GAUSS, Charles William to Robert Gauss - 1879-02-26
- GAUSS, Helen W. to Robert Gauss - 1911-08-01
- LOOMIS, A. W. to Gauss children - 1855-02-12
Mentioned in
Letters
- GAUSS, Eugene to Charles Henry Gauss - 1864-03-31
- GAUSS, Anne D. to G. Waldo Dunnington - 1926-04-02
- GAUSS, Anne D. to G. Waldo Dunnington - 1926-05-18
People
Census
- GaussEugene-StCharlesMissouri-1860
- GaussEugene-StCharlesMissouri-1870
- GaussEugene-StCharlesMissouri-1880
- Census Index - Gauss
Other Documents
| Child of | GAUSS, Eugene (1811-1896) +, and FAWCETT, Henrietta (1817-1909) + |
| Mentions | GAUSS, Robert (1851 - 1913) +, GAUSS, Carl Friedrich (1777-1855) +, GAUSS, Eugene (1811-1896) +, and GAUSS, Charles Henry (1845-1913) + |
| Year born | 1851 + |
| Year died | 1913 + |
