Ich nien . . . uh, read German.

For years I've been amazed by the solution to the basic Gaussian integral. For most of the mathematical problems I've encountered, I've either had the insight to the solution myself, or had some idea how it was reached. (Mostly the latter, I'm sure.) But not so for the Gaussian integral. It is like a solution out of Looney Tunes; where Bugs Bunny reached into a portable "hole", Gauss reached into another dimension.

Some months ago, this started to really annoy me. The same day I decided I would endeavor to find some paper of Gauss explaining how he came to his solution, I was informed of the Gauss collection at NSU. This was entirely coincidental. I was speaking to a local high school teacher about my high school which is located on the campus of NSU. She'd days earlier learned of the Gauss collection there. Such good fortune! At the time, I already had a trip to there planned for my 10-year class reunion.

Now, I'm not going. While there are former classmates I'd like to see, there are none I'm going out of my way to see. The one I might travel for already told me she won't be there. The one I'd want a restraining order against probably will be going; damn ex-girlfriends.

But still, there's the Gauss collection. No matter what, that would be worth seeing. But I'd forgotten one thing, and the other day my father reminded me of it: I can't read German.