Fourier

Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier

Born: 21 March 1768 in Auxerre, Bourgogne, France
Died: 16 May 1830 in Paris, France

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Joseph Fourier studied the mathematical theory of heat conduction. He established the partial differential equation governing heat diffusion and solved it by using infinite series of trigonometric functions.

Fourier trained for the priesthood but did not take his vows. Instead took up mathematics studying (1794) and later teaching mathematics at the new École Normale.

In 1798 he joined Napoleon's army in its invasion of Egypt as scientific advisor. He helped establish educational facilities in Egypt and carried out archaeological explorations. He returned to France in 1801 and was appointed prefect of the department of Isere by Napoleon.

He published Théorie analytique de la chaleur in 1822 devoted to the mathematical theory of heat conduction. He established the partial differential equation governing heat diffusion and solved it by using infinite series of trigonometric functions. In this he introduced the representation of a function as a series of sines or cosines now known as Fourier series.

Fourier's work provided the impetus for later work on trigonometric series and the theory of functions of a real variable.

References elsewhere in this archive:

Tell me about Fourier's part in the life of Évariste Galois

Tell me about his work on topology and on orbits and gravitation

Other Web sites:

University of Glasgow, UK

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. Biography in Encyclopaedia Britannica
  3. I Grattan-Guinness, Joseph Fourier, 1768-1830 (1972).
  4. F Arago, Joseph Fourier, Biographies of Distinguished Scientific Men (London, 1957), 242-286.
  5. J Herivel, Joseph Fourier. The Man and the Physicist (Oxford, 1975).
  6. J B Robert, La vie et l'oeuvre de Joseph Fourier, physicien et mathematicien (1989).
  7. F S Shoucair, Joseph Fourier's analytical theory of heat: a legacy to science and engineering, IEEE transactions on education 32 (1989), 359-366. 
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JOC/EFR February 1996