Mathematician:Joseph Fourier

Mathematician

French mathematician and physicist best known for the Fourier series and his application of this technique to the problem of heat conduction.

Also developed the technique of dimensional analysis, and discovered the greenhouse effect.

Nationality

French

History

• Born: 21 March 1768, Auxerre, Bourgogne, France
• 1798: Accompanied Napoleon Bonaparte to Egypt
• Died: 16 May 1830, Paris, France

Theorems and Definitions

• Fourier Analysis
• Fourier Coefficient
• Fourier Number
• Fourier Series
• Fourier Transform

• Fourier-Stieltjes Coefficients (with Thomas Stieltjes)

• Heat Equation
• Sum Notation

• Fourier's Law
• Fourier's Theorem, also known as Fourier's Integral Theorem
• Fourier-Motzkin Elimination (with Theodore Samuel Motzkin)

Results named for Joseph Fourier can be found here.

Definitions of concepts named for Joseph Fourier can be found here.

Publications

• 1807: On the Propagation of Heat in Solid Bodies
• 1810: Description of Egypt
• 1820: Refroidissement séculaire du globe terrestre (Bulletin des Sciences par la Société Philomathique de Paris Vol. 3, 7: pp. 58 – 70)
• 1822: Théorie Analytique de la Chaleur

• Historical Précis (unpublished)

Critical View

Fourier's theorem is not only one of the most beautiful theorems of modern analysis, but it may be said to furnish an indispensable instrument in the treatment of nearly every recondite question in modern physics.

-- Lord Kelvin

-- Epigraph to The Fourier Transform and its Applications, 2nd ed. by Ronald N. Bracewell

Also known as

Full name and title:

Baron Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier

or:

Jean Baptiste Joseph, Baron de Fourier

Sources

• John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson: "Joseph Fourier": MacTutor History of Mathematics archive

• 1937: Eric Temple Bell: Men of Mathematics: Chapter $\text{XII}$
• 1978: Ronald N. Bracewell: The Fourier Transform and its Applications (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Epigraph
• 1989: Ephraim J. Borowski and Jonathan M. Borwein: Dictionary of Mathematics ... (previous) ... (next): Fourier, Jean Baptiste Joseph, Baron de (1768-1830)
• 1992: George F. Simmons: Calculus Gems ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text {A}.24$: Fourier ($\text {1768}$ – $\text {1830}$)
• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Fourier, Jean Baptiste Joseph, Baron (1768-1830)
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Fourier, Jean Baptiste Joseph, Baron (1768-1830)
• 2014: Christopher Clapham and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Fourier, (Jean Baptiste) Joseph, Baron (1768-1830)