The problem of distinguishing prime numbers from composite numbers and of resolving the latter into their prime factors is known to be one of the most important and useful in arithmetic.

Sometimes referred to as the Princeps mathematicorum (Latin "the Prince of Mathematicians" or "the foremost of mathematicians") and "greatest mathematician since antiquity" Gauss had a remarkable influence in many fields of mathematics and science and is ranked as one of history's most influential mathematicians. He referred to mathematics as "the queen of sciences".