diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/gsl/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/gsl/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a5248d422996
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/gsl/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+args:
+args.stdenv.mkDerivation {
+  name = "gsl-1.9";
+
+  src = args.fetchurl {
+    url = ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gsl/gsl-1.9.tar.gz;
+    sha256 = "0l12js65c1qf3s7gmgay6gj5nbs6635py41dj8nk3hlp95wcdlgw";
+  };
+
+  buildInputs =(with args; []);
+
+  meta = { 
+      description = "numerical library (>1000 functions)";
+      homepage = http://www.gnu.org/software/gsl;
+      license = "GPL2";
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 6a234c5e229a..3023dbd5c2ed 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -1846,6 +1846,11 @@ rec {
     inherit fetchurl stdenv libgpgerror gnupg;
   };
 
+  # gnu scientific library
+  gsl = import ../development/libraries/gsl {
+    inherit fetchurl stdenv;
+  };
+
   gtkLibs = recurseIntoAttrs gtkLibs210;
 
   gtkLibs1x = import ../development/libraries/gtk-libs-1.x {