When his patron, Duke Ferdinand, was assassinated by Napoleon, Gauss was forced to find another job to support his family. Despite offers from the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, he decided to accept the post of director of the Göttingen Astronomical Observatory. He would spend the rest of his life charting asteroids and topographical maps for the Hanoverian and Danish governments. One of his few students, Riemann, would carry on the legacy of mathematical research.
