Duhamel

Jean Marie Constant Duhamel

Born: 5 Feb 1797 in St Malo, France
Died: 29 April 1872 in Paris, France

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Duhamel was a student at the École Polytechnique and became professor there in 1830. From 1851 he was also professor at the Faculté des Sciences in Paris.

Duhamel worked on partial differential equations and applied his methods to the theory of heat and to acoustics. His acoustical studies involved vibrating strings and the vibration of air in cylindrical and conical pipes. His techniques in the theory of heat were mathematically similar to Fresnel's work in optics.

His theory of the transmission of heat in crystal structures was based on work of Fourier and Poisson. 'Duhamel's principle' in partial differential equations arose from his work on the distribution of heat in a solid with a variable boundary temperature.

Other Web sites:

Rice University, USA

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. Biography in Encyclopaedia Britannica
  3. E Sarrau, Duhamel, École Polytechnique, livre du centenaire 1794-1894 I (Paris, 1894-97), 126-130. 
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JOC/EFR February 1996