Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier – författare

First published in 1878, The Analytical Theory of Heat is Alexander Freeman's English translation of French mathematician Joseph Fourier's Théorie Analytique de la Chaleur, originally published in French in 1822. In this groundbreaking study, arguing that previous theories of mechanics advanced by such scientific greats as Archimedes, Galileo, Newton and their successors did not explain the laws of heat, Fourier set out to study the mathematical laws governing heat diffusion and proposed that an infinite mathematical series may be used to analyse the conduction of heat in solids. Known in scientific circles as the 'Fourier Series', this work paved the way for modern mathematical physics. This translation, now reissued, contains footnotes that cross-reference other writings by Fourier and his contemporaries, along with 20 figures and an extensive bibliography. This book will be especially useful for mathematicians who are interested in trigonometric series and their applications.

French mathematician Joseph Fourier's Théorie Analytique de la Chaleur was originally published in 1822. In this groundbreaking study, arguing that previous theories of mechanics advanced by such outstanding scientists as Archimedes, Galileo, Newton and their successors did not explain the laws of heat, Fourier set out to study the mathematical laws governing heat diffusion and proposed that an infinite mathematical series may be used to analyse the conduction of heat in solids: this is now known as the 'Fourier Series'. His work paved the way for modern mathematical physics. This book will be especially useful for mathematicians who are interested in trigonometric series and their applications, and it is reissued simultaneously with Alexander Freeman's English translation, The Analytical Theory of Heat, of 1878.

Following the French Revolution, the physicist and mathematician Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier (1768-1830) taught at the École Normale Supérieure and later succeeded Lagrange at the École Polytechnique. He was promoted to administrative positions under Napoleon, but continued to pursue his scientific interests. From 1822 until his death he served as the permanent secretary for mathematical sciences at the Académie des Sciences. Thanks to his substantial contributions to the field, Fourier's name has passed as an adjective into the mathematical vocabulary of every major language. These selected works were edited by the mathematician Jean Gaston Darboux (1842-1917) and published in two volumes between 1888 and 1890. Volume 1 is given over entirely to the immortal Théorie analytique de la chaleur (1822), from which the world learnt about the heat equation and the series which bears Fourier's name.

Following the French Revolution, the physicist and mathematician Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier (1768-1830) taught at the École Normale Supérieure and later succeeded Lagrange at the École Polytechnique. He was promoted to administrative positions under Napoleon, but continued to pursue his scientific interests. From 1822 until his death he served as the permanent secretary for mathematical sciences at the Académie des Sciences. These selected works were edited by the mathematician Jean Gaston Darboux (1842-1917) and published in two volumes between 1888 and 1890. Volume 2 contains several extraordinary contributions: the first paper to address the question of why the earth's surface is warm (which we now call the greenhouse effect), the first paper to address the cooling of the earth's interior (still a major research topic) and the first paper on optimisation under linear constraints, along with the results on roots of polynomials which first made Fourier's reputation.