Johann Bernoulli (also known as Jean or John; – 1 January 1748) was a
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
*Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
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* Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
* Swiss Internation ...
mathematician and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the
Bernoulli family. He is known for his contributions to
infinitesimal calculus
Calculus, originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the calculus of infinitesimals", is the mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of ari ...
and educating
Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries ...
in the pupil's youth.
Biography
Early life
Johann was born in
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...
, the son of Nicolaus Bernoulli, an
apothecary, and his wife, Margarethe Schongauer, and began studying medicine at
University of Basel
The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universiti ...
. His father desired that he study business so that he might take over the family spice trade, but Johann Bernoulli did not like business and convinced his father to allow him to study medicine instead. Johann Bernoulli began studying mathematics on the side with his older brother
Jacob Bernoulli. Throughout Johann Bernoulli's education at
Basel University the Bernoulli brothers worked together spending much of their time studying the newly discovered infinitesimal calculus. They were among the first mathematicians to not only study and understand
calculus
Calculus, originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the calculus of infinitesimals", is the mathematics, mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizati ...
but to apply it to various problems. In 1690,
he completed a degree dissertation in medicine,
[ (here cited p. 133).] reviewed by
Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of ma ...
,
whose title was ''De Motu musculorum et de effervescent et fermentation''.
Adult life
After graduating from Basel University, Johann Bernoulli moved to teach
differential equations
In mathematics, a differential equation is an equation that relates one or more unknown functions and their derivatives. In applications, the functions generally represent physical quantities, the derivatives represent their rates of change, an ...
. Later, in 1694, he married Dorothea Falkner, the daughter of an
alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members ...
of Basel, and soon after accepted a position as the professor of mathematics at the
University of Groningen
The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. Founded in 1614, the university is th ...
. At the request of his
father-in-law, Bernoulli began the voyage back to his home town of Basel in 1705. Just after setting out on the journey he learned of his brother's death to
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...
. Bernoulli had planned on becoming the professor of Greek at Basel University upon returning but instead was able to take over as professor of mathematics, his older brother's former position. As a student of
Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of ma ...
's calculus, Bernoulli sided with him in 1713 in the
Leibniz–Newton debate over who deserved credit for the discovery of calculus. Bernoulli defended Leibniz by showing that he had solved certain problems with his methods that
Newton had failed to solve. Bernoulli also promoted
Descartes'
vortex theory over
Newton's theory of gravitation. This ultimately delayed acceptance of Newton's theory in
continental Europe
Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...
.
In 1724, Johann Bernoulli entered a competition sponsored by the French
Académie Royale des Sciences, which posed the question:
:What are the laws according to which a perfectly hard body, put into motion, moves another body of the same nature either at rest or in motion, and which it encounters either in a
vacuum
A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective ''vacuus'' for "vacant" or " void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Physicists often ...
or in a
plenum?
In defending a view previously espoused by Leibniz, he found himself postulating an infinite external force required to make the body elastic by overcoming the infinite internal force making the body hard. In consequence, he was disqualified for the prize, which was won by
Maclaurin
Maclaurin or MacLaurin is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Colin Maclaurin (1698–1746), Scottish mathematician
* Normand MacLaurin (1835–1914), Australian politician and university administrator
* Henry Normand MacLaurin ...
. However, Bernoulli's paper was subsequently accepted in 1726 when the Académie considered papers regarding elastic bodies, for which the prize was awarded to Pierre Mazière. Bernoulli received an honourable mention in both competitions.
Disputes and controversy
Although Johann and his brother Jacob Bernoulli worked together before Johann graduated from Basel University, shortly after this, the two developed a jealous and competitive relationship. Johann was jealous of Jacob's position and the two often attempted to outdo each other. After Jacob's death Johann's jealousy shifted toward his own talented son,
Daniel
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...
. In 1738 the father–son duo nearly simultaneously published separate works on
hydrodynamics
In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids— liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including ''aerodynamics'' (the study of air and other gases in motion) a ...
. Johann attempted to take precedence over his son by purposely and falsely predating his work two years prior to his son's.
The Bernoulli brothers often worked on the same problems, but not without friction. Their most bitter dispute concerned the
brachistochrone curve problem, or the equation for the path followed by a particle from one point to another in the shortest amount of time, if the particle is acted upon by gravity alone. Johann presented the problem in 1696, offering a reward for its solution. Entering the challenge, Johann proposed the cycloid, the path of a point on a moving wheel, also pointing out the relation this curve bears to the path taken by a ray of light passing through layers of varied density. Jacob proposed the same solution, but Johann's derivation of the solution was incorrect, and he presented his brother Jacob's derivation as his own.
Bernoulli was hired by
Guillaume de l'Hôpital for tutoring in mathematics. Bernoulli and l'Hôpital signed a contract which gave l'Hôpital the right to use Bernoulli's discoveries as he pleased. L'Hôpital authored the first textbook on infinitesimal calculus, ''
Analyse des Infiniment Petits pour l'Intelligence des Lignes Courbes'' in 1696, which mainly consisted of the work of Bernoulli, including what is now known as
l'Hôpital's rule.
Subsequently, in letters to Leibniz, Varignon and others, Bernoulli complained that he had not received enough credit for his contributions, in spite of the preface of his book:
Works
*
*
*
**
**
**
*
*
File:Johannis Bernoulli Opera Omnia.jpg, alt=, Volumes I-IV of Bernoulli's 1742 ''Opera Omnia''
File:Bernoulli-1.jpg, alt=, Portrait of Bernoulli in volume I of his 1742 ''Opera omnia''
File:Bernoulli-2.jpg, alt=, The front page of volume I of ''Opera omnia''
See also
*
Sophomore's dream – a pair of analytical identities by Bernoulli
*
Partial fraction decomposition
Notes
References
External links
*
*
*
* Golba, Paul, "
Bernoulli, Johan''"
* "
Johann Bernoulli'"
*
* discusses the strange agreement between Bernoulli and de l'Hôpital on pages 59–62.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernoulli, Johann
1667 births
1748 deaths
Scientists from Basel-Stadt
University of Groningen faculty
17th-century Swiss mathematicians
18th-century Swiss mathematicians
Swiss Calvinist and Reformed Christians
History of calculus
Fluid dynamicists
Fellows of the Royal Society
Johann
Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning " Yahweh is Gracio ...
Swiss expatriates in the Dutch Republic