Carl Friedrich Gauss's Disquisitiones Arithmeticae, published in 1801, is Gauss's own foundational treatise establishing modern number theory, including the sufficiency half of the constructibility criterion for regular polygons, that a regular n-gon is constructible when n is 2 to a power times a product of distinct Fermat primes, and his diary entry of 30 March 1796 recording the seventeen-gon construction. Its authority is that of the primary mathematical text itself, written by the mathematician who proved the result, and it has stood as a foundational reference in number theory for over two centuries. Its limit for this atlas is scope: it is a mathematical text, authoritative for the mathematics of polygon constructibility and not a source for any symbolic or numerological reading a later tradition has built on that mathematics.
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Reliability Tier1
Carl Friedrich Gauss's own Disquisitiones Arithmeticae, published in 1801 by Gerhard Fleischer, is the primary mathematical text itself, written by the mathematician who proved the constructibility criterion for regular polygons and recorded the seventeen-gon construction in his own diary, the top tier reflecting that it is the foundational primary source in the author's own words, standing in number theory for over two centuries, notwithstanding that it is a mathematical text and not a source for any symbolic or numerological reading a later tradition has built on that mathematics. NotesSufficiency half of the constructibility criterion: n = 2^k times a product of distinct Fermat primes. Diary entry of 30 March 1796 for the 17-gon.
Citation
AuthorCarl Friedrich Gauss
PublisherGerhard Fleischer
Leipzig, 1801, per the Internet Archive catalogue record and the Smithsonian Libraries digital record for Gauss's Disquisitiones Arithmeticae. Publication Year1801
Source Typeprimary-text
Claims Backed By This Source (12 claims)
This source backs 12 claims across the atlas. As facts: 7 well-attested. Plus 5 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 7 claims: 7 well-attested.
- Sacred Geometry, 5 claims: 5 general references.
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