=967.= Fermat died with the belief that he had found a long-sought-for law of prime numbers in the formula 2^2^n + 1 = a prime, but he admitted that he was unable to prove it rigorously. The law is not true, as was pointed out by Euler in the example 2^2^5 + 1 = 4,294,967,297 = 6,700,417 times 641. The American lightning calculator _Zerah Colburn_, when a boy, readily found the factors but was unable to explain the method by which he made his marvellous mental computation.--CAJORI, F. _History of Mathematics (New York, 1897), p. 180._ =968.= I crave the liberty to conceal my name, not to suppress it. I have composed the letters of it written in Latin in this sentence-- In Mathesi a sole fundes.[7] --FLAMSTEED, J. _Macclesfield: Correspondence of Scientific Men (Oxford, 1841), Vol. 2, p. 90._ [7] Johannes Flamsteedius. =969.= _To the Memory of Fourier_ Fourier! with solemn and profound delight, Joy born of awe, but kindling momently To an intense and thrilling ecstacy, I gaze upon thy glory and grow bright: As if irradiate with beholden light; As if the immortal that remains of thee Attuned me to thy spirit’s harmony, Breathing serene resolve and tranquil might. Revealed appear thy silent thoughts of youth, As if to consciousness, and all that view Prophetic, of the heritage of truth To thy majestic years of manhood due: Darkness and error fleeing far away, And the pure mind enthroned in perfect day. --HAMILTON, W. R. _Graves’ Life of W. R. Hamilton, (New York, 1882), Vol. 1, p. 596._ =970.= Astronomy and Pure Mathematics are the magnetic poles toward which the compass of my mind ever turns.--GAUSS TO BOLYAI. _Briefwechsel (Schmidt-Stakel), (1899), p. 55._ =971.= [Gauss calculated the elements of the planet Ceres] and his analysis proved him to be the first of theoretical astronomers no less than the greatest of “arithmeticians.”--BALL, W. W. R. _History of Mathematics (London, 1901), p. 458._ =972.= The mathematical giant [Gauss], who from his lofty heights embraces in one view the stars and the abysses....--BOLYAI, W. _Kurzer Grundriss eines Versuchs (Maros Vasarhely, 1851), p. 44._ =973.= Almost everything, which the mathematics of our century has brought forth in the way of original scientific ideas, attaches to the name of Gauss.--KRONECKER, L. _Zahlentheorie, Teil 1 (Leipzig, 1901), p. 43._