History
As the name suggests, the periods were introduced by Gauss and were the basis for his theory of compass and straightedge construction. For example, the construction of the heptadecagon (a formula that furthered his reputation) depended on the algebra of such periods, of which
is an example involving the seventeenth root of unity
Read more about this topic: Gaussian Period
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The History of the world is not the theatre of happiness. Periods of happiness are blank pages in it, for they are periods of harmony—periods when the antithesis is in abeyance.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“Considered in its entirety, psychoanalysis won’t do. It’s an end product, moreover, like a dinosaur or a zeppelin; no better theory can ever be erected on its ruins, which will remain for ever one of the saddest and strangest of all landmarks in the history of twentieth-century thought.”
—Peter B. Medawar (1915–1987)
“These anyway might think it was important
That human history should not be shortened.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)