Scanning the Past: A History of Electrical Engineering from the Past

Submitted by Dick Reiman, Historian

Reprinted with permission from the IEEE publication, "IEEE-USA News & Views"April 2002.

Carl Friedrich Gauss: 30 April 1777 - 23 February 1855

Born 225 years ago, on 30 April 1777, in Brunswick, Germany, Carl Friedrich Gauss was one of the greatest mathematicians of all time.  Gauss' mathematics has benefited engineering enormously.  But he also contributed directly to electrical science and electrical technology in important ways.

Among his mathematical contributions were the proof of the fundamental theorem of algebra, the presentation of a complete theory of complex numbers, and the development of potential theory (used in the study of gravitational and electromagnetic fields).

Gauss contributed greatly to the understanding of electricity and magnetism. He showed mathematically that electric flux through a closed surface is proportional to the enclosed charge (now known as Gauss' theorem).  Together with physicist Wilhelm Eduard Weber, he studied terrestrial magnetism and electromagnetism.  He devised a sensitive magnetometer, introducing the bifilar suspension of a magnetic needle used as an indicator (later adopted in galvanometers).  Gauss devised a system of so-called absolute units, expressing force (and other quantities) using only the fundamental units of length, mass and time.  In his honor, the unit of magnetic induction has been designated the gauss, and treating a ship or other object so that it has no detectable external magnetic field is called degaussing.

In 1832, wishing to synchronize magnetic measurements carried out in two buildings a kilometer or two apart, Gauss and Weber built a two-wire circuit between the buildings and sent a time signal using a battery and a galvanometer.  The next year they began sending words and sentences by this means.  They tried to interest the army in the new signaling system, but failed.  Not until 1837, did William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone patent their telegraph system in England.  And, in the United States, Samuel Morse demonstrated his system, including his innovative way of coding messages.

James E. Brittain

School of History , Technology, and Society

Georgia Institute of Technology