Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Fourier

Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Fourier was a French mathematician who exerted a strong influence on mathematical physics. He established the partial differential equation governing heat diffusion and solved it by using infinite series of trigonometric functions. Fourier's work provided the impetus for later work on trigonometric series and the theory of functions of a real variable. Jean Joseph Fourier was born on March 21, 1768 in ancient town of Auxurre, France. He was the ninth child of his father, Joseph …showed first 75 words of 411 total…

…showed last 75 words of 411 total…Egyptologist. He made an outstandingly successful Prefect of Isére from 1802 to 1815 and was Prefect of the Rhone for a time following a dramatic encounter with Napoleon during the Hundred Days. Later he was elected a member of the! Académie des Sciences, and as on of the permanent secretaries of that body. Jean-Joseph Fourier throughout his life suffered prolonged illnesses of insomnia, dyspepsia, and asthma. Jean-Joseph Fourier died in Paris on May 16, 1830. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**