Joseph Fourier

1
Joseph Fourier
Joseph Fourier
Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier
Born 21 March 1768
Auxerre, Burgundy, Kingdom of France (now in Yonne, France)
Died 16 May 1830 (aged62)
Paris, Kingdom of France
Residence France
Nationality French
Fields Mathematician, Physicist, and historian
Institutions cole Normale
cole Polytechnique
Alma mater cole Normale
Doctoral advisor Joseph-Louis Lagrange
Doctoral students Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet
Giovanni Plana
Claude-Louis Navier
Knownfor Fourier series
Fourier transform
Fourier's law of conduction
Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier (21 March 1768 16 May 1830) was a French mathematician and physicist born in
Auxerre and best known for initiating the investigation of Fourier series and their applications to problems of heat
transfer and vibrations. The Fourier transform and Fourier's Law are also named in his honour. Fourier is also
generally credited with the discovery of the greenhouse effect.
Biography
Fourier was born at Auxerre (now in the Yonne dpartement of France), the son of a tailor. He was orphaned at age
nine. Fourier was recommended to the Bishop of Auxerre, and through this introduction, he was educated by the
Benedictine Order of the Convent of St. Mark. The commissions in the scientific corps of the army were reserved for
those of good birth, and being thus ineligible, he accepted a military lectureship on mathematics. He took a
prominent part in his own district in promoting the French Revolution, serving on the local Revolutionary
Committee. He was imprisoned briefly during the Terror but in 1795 was appointed to the cole Normale
Suprieure, and subsequently succeeded Joseph-Louis Lagrange at the cole Polytechnique.
Joseph Fourier
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Fourier accompanied Napoleon Bonaparte on his Egyptian expedition in 1798, as scientific adviser, and was
appointed secretary of the Institut d'gypte. Cut off from France by the English fleet, he organized the workshops on
which the French army had to rely for their munitions of war. He also contributed several mathematical papers to the
Egyptian Institute (also called the Cairo Institute) which Napoleon founded at Cairo, with a view of weakening
English influence in the East. After the British victories and the capitulation of the French under General Menou in
1801, Fourier returned to France.
1820 watercolor caricatures of French mathematicians Adrien-Marie
Legendre (left) and Joseph Fourier (right) by French artist
Julien-Leopold Boilly, watercolor portrait numbers 29 and 30 of
Album de 73 Portraits-Charge Aquarelles des Membres de
IInstitute.
[1]
In 1801, Napoleon appointed Fourier Prefect
(Governor) of the Department of Isre in Grenoble,
where he oversaw road construction and other projects.
However, Fourier had previously returned home from
the Napoleon expedition to Egypt to resume his
academic post as professor at cole Polytechnique
when Napoleon decided otherwise in his remark
... the Prefect of the Department of Isre having
recently died, I would like to express my confidence in
citizen Fourier by appointing him to this place.
Hence being faithful to Napoleon, he took the office of
Prefect. It was while at Grenoble that he began to
experiment on the propagation of heat. He presented
his paper On the Propagation of Heat in Solid Bodies
to the Paris Institute on December 21, 1807. He also
contributed to the monumental Description de
l'gypte.
[2]
Fourier moved to England in 1816. Later, he returned to France, and in 1822 succeeded Jean Baptiste Joseph
Delambre as Permanent Secretary of the French Academy of Sciences. In 1830, he was elected a foreign member of
the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
In 1830, his diminished health began to take its toll:
Fourier had already experienced, in Egypt and Grenoble, some attacks of aneurism of the heart. At Paris,
it was impossible to be mistaken with respect to the primary cause of the frequent suffocations which he
experienced. A fall, however, which he sustained on the 4th of May 1830, while descending a flight of
stairs, aggravated the malady to an extent beyond what could have been ever feared.
Shortly after this event, he died in his bed on 16 May 1830.
Fourier was buried in the Pre Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, a tomb decorated with an Egyptian motif to reflect his
position as secretary of the Cairo Institute, and his collation of Description de l'gypte. His name is one of the 72
names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.
Joseph Fourier
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Rosetta Stone
In 1801, Fourier returned from Egypt on the Napoleon expedition with many artifacts including an ink pressed copy
of the Rosetta Stone. The original stone was discovered in 1799, and by 1802, a translation of the ancient Greek text
had already been popularly printed.
Born in 1790 as the seventh son to an impoverished family, young Jean-Francois Champollion joined his elder
brother at Acadmie de Grenoble in 1801; Fourier became Prefect of Grenoble the same year. Champollion was
quickly recognized as a virtuoso and self-educated linguist. Fourier and Champollion met and Fourier introduced
Champollion (then age 11) to an ink pressed copy of the Rosetta Stone. Champollion, amazed that none had
deciphered its meaning, dedicated himself to the translation of ancient Egyptian. In 1806, Champollion with the
continued support of Fourier and his elder brother, Jacques, presented a paper on Coptic at Acadmie de Grenoble
with insight to ancient Egyptian. Furthermore in 1809, Champollion returned after 2 years in Paris to Acadmie de
Grenoble after being helped by Fourier to gain exemption from military service. Ultimately, Fourier's first influential
encounter with Champollion and subsequent relationship largely supported Champollion's translation of ancient
Egyptian from 1822 to 1824 when he finally gained widespread fame for his breakthrough publication.
The Analytic Theory of Heat
In 1822 Fourier published his work on heat flow in Thorie analytique de la chaleur (The Analytic Theory of Heat),
in which he based his reasoning on Newton's law of cooling, namely, that the flow of heat between two adjacent
molecules is proportional to the extremely small difference of their temperatures. This book was translated,
[3]
with
editorial 'corrections',
[4]
into English 56 years later by Freeman (1878).
[5]
The book was also edited, with many
editorial corrections, by Darboux and republished in French in 1888.
Sketch of Fourier, circa 1820.
There were three important contributions in this work, one purely
mathematical, two essentially physical. In mathematics, Fourier
claimed that any function of a variable, whether continuous or
discontinuous, can be expanded in a series of sines of multiples of
the variable. Though this result is not correct, Fourier's observation
that some discontinuous functions are the sum of infinite series
was a breakthrough. The question of determining when a Fourier
series converges has been fundamental for centuries. Joseph-Louis
Lagrange had given particular cases of this (false) theorem, and
had implied that the method was general, but he had not pursued
the subject. Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet was the first to give a
satisfactory demonstration of it with some restrictive conditions.
One physical contribution in the book was the concept of
dimensional homogeneity in equations; i.e. an equation can be
formally correct only if the dimensions match on either side of the
equality; Fourier made important contributions to dimensional
analysis.
[6]
The other physical contribution was Fourier's proposal of his partial differential equation for conductive
diffusion of heat. This equation is now taught to every student of mathematical physics.
Joseph Fourier
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Determinate equations
Fourier left an unfinished work on determinate equations which was edited by Claude-Louis Navier and published in
1831. This work contains much original matter in particular, there is a demonstration of Fourier's theorem on the
position of the roots of an algebraic equation. Joseph-Louis Lagrange had shown how the roots of an algebraic
equation might be separated by means of another equation whose roots were the squares of the differences of the
roots of the original equation. Franois Budan, in 1807 and 1811, had enunciated the theorem generally known by
the name of Fourier, but the demonstration was not altogether satisfactory. Fourier's proof is the same as that usually
given in textbooks on the theory of equations. The final solution of the problem was given in 1829 by Jacques
Charles Franois Sturm.
Discovery of the greenhouse effect
In the 1820s Fourier calculated that an object the size of the Earth, and at its distance from the Sun, should be
considerably colder than the planet actually is if warmed by only the effects of incoming solar radiation. He
examined various possible sources of the additional observed heat in articles published in 1824 and 1827. While he
ultimately suggested that interstellar radiation might be responsible for a large portion of the additional warmth,
Fourier's consideration of the possibility that the Earth's atmosphere might act as an insulator of some kind is widely
recognized as the first proposal of what is now known as the greenhouse effect.
[7]
Bust of Fourier in Grenoble
In his articles, Fourier referred to an experiment by de Saussure,
[8]
who
lined a vase with blackened cork. Into the cork, he inserted several
panes of transparent glass, separated by intervals of air. Midday
sunlight was allowed to enter at the top of the vase through the glass
panes. The temperature became more elevated in the more interior
compartments of this device. Fourier concluded that gases in the
atmosphere could form a stable barrier like the glass panes.
[9]
This
conclusion may have contributed to the later use of the metaphor of the
'greenhouse effect' to refer to the processes that determine atmospheric
temperatures. Fourier noted that the actual mechanisms that determine
the temperatures of the atmosphere included convection, which was
not present in de Saussure's experimental device.
Joseph Fourier
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Fourier's grave, Pre Lachaise Cemetery
Works
Fourier, Joseph (1822). Thorie analytique de la
chaleur
[10]
. Paris: Firmin Didot Pre et Fils.
Fourier, Joseph (1824). Annales de chimie et de
physique
[11]
27. Paris: Annals of Chemistry and
Physics. pp.236281.
Fourier, Joseph (1827). Mmoire sur la temprature
du globe terrestre et des espaces plantaires
[12]
7.
Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences of the
Institut de France. pp.569604.
Fourier, Joseph (1827). Mmoire sur la distinction
des racines imaginaires, et sur l'application des thormes d'analyse algbrique aux quations transcendantes
qui dpendent de la thorie de la chaleur
[13]
7. Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences of the Institut de
France. pp.605624.
Fourier, Joseph (1827). Analyse des quations dtermines
[14]
10. Firmin Didot frres. pp.119146.
Fourier, Joseph (1827). Remarques gnrales sur l'application du principe de l'analyse algbrique aux quations
transcendantes
[15]
10. Paris: Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences of the Institut de France. pp.119146.
Fourier, Joseph (1833). Mmoire d'analyse sur le mouvement de la chaleur dans les fluides
[16]
12. Paris:
Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences of the Institut de France. pp.507530.
Fourier, Joseph (1821). Rapport sur les tontines
[17]
5. Paris: Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences of the
Institut de France. pp.2643.
References
[1] Boilly, Julien-Leopold. (1820). Album de 73 Portraits-Charge Aquarelles des Membres de IInstitute ( watercolor portrait (http:/ / translate.
google.com/ translate?js=y& prev=_t& hl=en& ie=UTF-8& layout=1& eotf=1& u=http:/ / www. photo. rmn. fr/ cf/ htm/ CSearchZ.
aspx?E=2K1KTS6T7WAMK& SubE=2C6NU00YI4TE& sl=auto& tl=en) #29). Biliotheque de lInstitut de France.
[2] Nowlan, Robert. A Chronicle of Mathematical People ([www.robertnowlan.com/pdfs/Fourier,%20Joseph.pdf])
[3] Freeman, A. (1878). The Analytical Theory of Heat, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK, cited by Truesdell, C.A. (1980), The
Tragicomical History of Thermodynamics, 18221854, Springer, New York, ISBN 0-387-90403-4, page 52.
[4] Truesdell, C.A. (1980). The Tragicomical History of Thermodynamics, 18221854, Springer, New York, ISBN 0-387-90403-4, page 52.
[5] [5] Digital Image Processing by Rafeel Gonzalez and Richard E Woods ,Third Edition , Pg 200 , PHI Eastern Economy Edition.
[6] Mason, Stephen F.: A History of the Sciences (Simon & Schuster, 1962), p. 169.
[7] Weart, S. (2008). The Carbon Dioxide Greenhouse Effect (http:/ / www. aip. org/ history/ climate/ co2. htm). Retrieved on 27 May 2008
[8] [8] fr:Horace-Bndict de Saussure
[9] Translation by W M Connolley of: Fourier 1827: MEMOIRE sur les temperatures du globe terrestre et des espaces planetaires (http:/ / www.
wmconnolley.org.uk/ sci/ fourier_1827/ fourier_1827. html)
[10] http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=TDQJAAAAIAAJ
[11] http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=1Jg5AAAAcAAJ& dq=Annales+ de+ chimie+ et+ de+ physique+ volume+ 27&
[12] http:/ / gallica. bnf.fr/ ark:/ 12148/ bpt6k32227.image.r=memoires+ de+ l%27academie+ des+ sciences. f808. langEN
[13] http:/ / gallica. bnf.fr/ ark:/ 12148/ bpt6k32227/ f844.image. r=memoires+ de+ l'academie+ des+ sciences. langEN
[14] http:/ / num-scd-ulp. u-strasbg. fr:8080/ 827/
[15] http:/ / gallica. bnf.fr/ ark:/ 12148/ bpt6k32255.image.r=memoires+ de+ l%27academie+ des+ sciences. f346. langEN
[16] http:/ / gallica. bnf.fr/ ark:/ 12148/ bpt6k3227s.image.r=memoires+ de+ l%27academie+ des+ sciences. f620. langEN
[17] http:/ / gallica. bnf.fr/ ark:/ 12148/ bpt6k3220m. image. f568. pagination. langEN
Joseph Fourier
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Further reading
Initial text from the public domain Rouse History of Mathematics
Fourier, Joseph. (1822). Theorie Analytique de la Chaleur. Firmin Didot (reissued by Cambridge University
Press, 2009; ISBN 978-1-108-00180-9)
Fourier, Joseph. (1878). The Analytical Theory of Heat. Cambridge University Press (reissued by Cambridge
University Press, 2009; ISBN 978-1-108-00178-6)
Fourier, J.-B.-J. (1824). Mmoires de l'Acadmie Royale des Sciences de l'Institut de France VII. 570604 (http:/
/ www. academie-sciences. fr/ activite/ archive/ dossiers/ Fourier/ Fourier_pdf/ Mem1827_p569_604. pdf)
(Mmoire sur Les Temperatures du Globe Terrestre et Des Espaces Planetaires greenhouse effect essay
published in 1827)
The Project Gutenberg EBook of Biographies of Distinguished Scientific Men (http:/ / www. gutenberg. org/
etext/ 16775) by Franois Arago
Fourier, J. loge historique de Sir William Herschel, prononc dans la sance publique de l'Acadmie royale des
sciences le 7 Juin, 1824. Historie de l'Acadmie Royale des Sciences de l'Institut de France, tome vi., anne 1823,
p. lxi.[Pg 227]
External links
Wikisource has the text of a 1906 New International Encyclopedia article about Joseph Fourier.
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Joseph Fourier
O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Joseph Fourier" (http:/ / www-history. mcs. st-andrews. ac. uk/
Biographies/ Fourier. html), MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews.
Fourier, J. B. J., 1824, Remarques Gnrales Sur Les Tempratures Du Globe Terrestre Et Des Espaces
Plantaires., in Annales de Chimie et de Physique, Vol. 27, pp. 136167 translation by Burgess (1837). (http:/ /
fourier1824. geologist-1011. mobi)
Fourier 1827: MEMOIRE sur les tempratures du globe terrestre et des espaces plantaires (http:/ / www.
wmconnolley. org. uk/ sci/ fourier_1827/ fourier_1827. html)
Universit Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France (http:/ / www. ujf-grenoble. fr)
Joseph Fourier and the Vuvuzela (http:/ / blog. mathsbank. co. uk/ 2010/ 06/ joseph-fourier-and-vuvuzela. html)
on MathsBank.co.uk (http:/ / mathsbank. co. uk)
Joseph Fourier (http:/ / www. genealogy. ams. org/ id. php?id=17981) at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
Joseph Fourier uvres compltes, tome 2 (http:/ / portail. mathdoc. fr/ cgi-bin/ oetoc?id=OE_FOURIER__2)
Gallica-Math
Joseph Fourier, Thorie analytique de la chaleur (http:/ / books. google. de/ books?id=TDQJAAAAIAAJ&
pg=PA525) Google books
Article Sources and Contributors
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Article Sources and Contributors
Joseph Fourier Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=618154212 Contributors: 67th Tigers, Acather96, Akriasas, Akritas2, Alan U. Kennington, Alansohn, Anon user, Antandrus,
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Jiuguang Wang, Jmc, Joe Canuck, John, John of Reading, John254, Jojit fb, Jormundgard, Josce, Juansempere, Jumbuck, K.C. Tang, Kev 847, Kgrad, Khym Chanur, Knutux, Kraxler, La Grande
Reverteur, Lee2008, Lenthe, Levalley, Libb Thims, Lockley, Looxix, Lukerobinson001, LutzL, Lzur, Mackensen, Majilis, MarkSweep, Martin451, MathMartin, Mav, MiLo28, Michael Hardy,
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