Christian Ludwig Gerling studied under Carl Friedrich Gauss, obtaining his doctorate in 1812 for a thesis entitled Methodi proiectionis orthographicae usum ad calculos parallacticos facilitandos explicavit simulque eclipsin solarem die, at the University of Gttingen. He is notable for his work on geodetics and in 1927 some 60 letters of correspondence between Gerling and Gauss on the topic were published. He is also notable as the doctoral advisor of Julius Plcker.
Gerling, whose father was also called Christian Ludwig Gerling and was a pastor at the St. Jacobi church, was born in Hamburg and attended the Johanneum. In 1817, he became professor of mathematics at the University of Marburg.
Source: Wikipedia