"Mathematics is the queen of the sciences, and arithmetic
the queen of mathematics."
I'd appreciate very much a primary reference to the source
of this famous statement attributed to Gauss.
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This is found at least in the short book in memory of Gauss
written by one of his Goettingen colleagues a little after his death:
Sartorius von Waltershausen, _Gauss zum Gedaechtniss_
(Leipzig, 1856).
In the discussion of Gauss's general character, he says
To use Gauss' own words, mathematics was for him "the
queen of the sciences, and arithmetic the queen of mathematics."
This is on p. 64 of the English translation; a quotations book says
that it is on p. 79 of the original. I do not know whether Gauss
himself actually published this comment or merely spoke it.
William C. Waterhouse
Penn State