Joseph Fourier
21 March 1768 – 16 May 1830
Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier (1768-1830) was a French mathematician and physicist best known for initiating the study of Fourier series and their application to heat transfer. He accompanied Napoleon's expedition to Egypt, served as prefect of Isère, and is also credited with an early description of the greenhouse effect.
Lived at the same time
Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Joseph Fourier.
- Caroline Herschel (1750–1848) Overlapped 62 years →
- Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) Overlapped 62 years →
- John Dalton (1766–1844) Overlapped 62 years →
- Marquis de Lafayette (1757–1834) Overlapped 62 years →
- William Wilberforce (1759–1833) Overlapped 62 years →
- Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1755–1842) Overlapped 62 years →
Life events
Joseph Fourier was born in Auxerre, the son of a tailor, and was orphaned by the age of ten.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgFourier received his education at the Benedictine-run military school in Auxerre, where he showed early talent for mathematics.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAfter studying at the Ecole Normale in Paris, Fourier joined the newly founded Ecole Polytechnique, where he became a teacher of analysis.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgFourier accompanied Napoleon Bonaparte's Egyptian expedition as scientific adviser and served as secretary of the Institut d'Egypte in Cairo.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgNapoleon appointed Fourier prefect of Isère, based in Grenoble, where he oversaw major public works including road construction and swamp drainage.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgFourier submitted his treatise 'On the Propagation of Heat in Solid Bodies' to the Paris Institute, introducing the use of trigonometric series to solve the heat equation.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgFourier was elected a member of the French Academy of Sciences, and in 1822 became its permanent secretary.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgFourier published his landmark work 'The Analytical Theory of Heat', establishing Fourier series and Fourier analysis as fundamental mathematical tools.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgIn papers on planetary temperatures, Fourier argued that the Earth's atmosphere retains heat, an early recognition of the greenhouse effect.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgFourier died in Paris after a fall down the stairs, aggravated by a chronic illness, and was buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetery.
Source: en.wikipedia.org