Peter GL Dirichlet was born around the time of Napoleon's great attempt at world domination, the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson, and the birth of Webster's dictionary. Ultimately, this time period is known as the 1800s and Peter G.L. Dirichlet was born in 1805. Dirichlet was not born into great wealth, (nor are many others, nowadays) his father was a postmaster in Germany, where Dirichlet and his family lived. Although they did not have much change, it was recorded that Dirichlet would use the money raised to purchase mathematics books. Dirichlet was said to be a model student, attentive in class and fascinated mainly by history and mathematics. His parents ultimately believed that Jesuit College would be a better fit for their son than his current school, the Gymnasium, which he attended for two years, beginning his enrollment in 1817 at the age of twelve. Among the people who influenced Dirichlet, Ohm, the mathematician known for Ohm's law, was Dirichlet's teacher and greatly influenced him in inspiring Dirichlet to pursue mathematical developments and studies. Not only did Ohm have relatively influential knowledge about Dirichlet; the mathematician Guass did the same. It is said that one book in particular was placed under Dirichlet's pillow every night, Disquisitiones Arithmeticae, by Guass. This book was prized by Dirichlet and revered as some might worship the Bible. By the age of 16, Dirichlet had finished his school credentials and was able to attend university. However, German universities were not up to par, allowing Dirichlet to explore other forms of education in Paris. Even though German universities were still few at the time, in a few years they would become famous throughout the world for their... half the paper... even if we don't necessarily understand how. Works Cited Allen, James. "The greatest mathematicians born between 1800 and 1850 AD" Fabpedigree. NP Network. 8 December 2013. .Haslam, Giovanni. “16 Fun Applications of the Pigeon Principle.” Keep your decisions in mind. Presh Talawalker and Web. December 8, 2013. Neale, Vicky. "Theorum11the box principle." Theorem of the week. Cambridge Maths Tripos, 25 March 2009. Web. 8 December 2013. .O'Connor, J.J. and E.F. Robertson. "Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet." Biography of Dirichlet. School of Mathematics and Statistics, nd Web. 8 December 2013. .