Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes ProCon History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
Joseph Fourier
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images & Videos
Joseph Fourier
Fourier series: the "atoms" of math
For Students
Joseph Fourier
Joseph, Baron Fourier summary
Quizzes
Michael Faraday (L) English physicist and chemist (electromagnetism) and John Frederic Daniell (R) British chemist and meteorologist who invented the Daniell cell.
Faces of Science
Equations written on blackboard
Numbers and Mathematics
Italian-born physicist Dr. Enrico Fermi draws a diagram at a blackboard with mathematical equations. circa 1950.
Physics and Natural Law
Related Questions
Read Next
bunch of numbers
Unusual Counting Systems
Highway Night Traffic Portland, drive, driving, car, automobile.
What's the Difference Between Speed and Velocity?
number zero, 0 balloon
Is Zero an Even or an Odd Number?
The Rosetta Stone, with Egyptian hieroglyphics in the top section, demotic characters in the middle, and Greek at the bottom; in the British Museum.
What Does the Rosetta Stone Say?
Above the clouds 130 nautical miles below, astronaut Mark C. Lee floats freely without tethers as he tests the new Simplified Aid for Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Spacewalk Rescue (SAFER) system, Sept. 16, 1994. Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-64
Gravity: From Apples to the Universe
Discover
Orange basketball on black background and with low key lighting. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society
The 10 Greatest Basketball Players of All Time
Ethel Rosenberg arrested in August 1950. Photograph dated Aug. 8, 1950. American civilians executed for espionage. Spies, communists, Julius Rosenberg
Spies Like Us: 10 Famous Names in the Espionage Game
Artist interpretation of a Space meteoroid impact. Meteor impact. Asteroid, End of the world, danger, destruction, dinosaur extinct, Judgement Day, Planet Earth, Doomsday Predictions, comet
10 Failed Doomsday Predictions
Thanksgiving Celebration Traditional Dinner Setting Food Concept
Why Is Thanksgiving in the U.S. Celebrated on a Thursday?
Thumbnail for flags that look alike quiz Russia, Slovenia, Iceland, Norway
Flags That Look Alike
Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1855), founder of the house of Rothschild; lithograph by Friedrich Lieder, c. 1830.
Where Do Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories About the Rothschild Family Come From?
The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. (Alice in Wonderland)
11 Banned Books Through Time

Joseph Fourier: Facts & Related Content

verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/facts/Joseph-Baron-Fourier
Written and fact-checked by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As Jean-Baptiste-Joseph, Baron Fourier
Born March 21, 1768 • Auxerre • France
Died May 16, 1830 (aged 62) • Paris • France
Subjects Of Study Fourier series • thermal conduction • complex analysis

Photos and Videos

Joseph Fourier
Fourier series: the "atoms" of math
See All Videos and Images →
Siméon-Denis Poisson, detail of a lithograph by François-Séraphin Delpech after a portrait by N. Maurin.
Siméon-Denis Poisson
French mathematician
Henri Poincaré, 1909.
Henri Poincaré
French mathematician
Louis Nirenberg
Louis Nirenberg
Canadian-born American mathematician
Laplace, Pierre-Simon, marquis de
Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace
French scientist and mathematician
Gaspard Monge, detail of an oil painting by Jean Naigeon, 1811; in the Museum of Fine Arts, Beaune, France.
Gaspard Monge, count de Péluse
French mathematician and public official
Adrien-Marie Legendre
French mathematician
Augustin-Louis Cauchy
French mathematician
Joseph Liouville
French mathematician
Émile Borel
French mathematician
Mme du Châtelet, detail of a portrait by an unknown French artist; in a private collection
Gabrielle-Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, marquise du Châtelet
French scientist and philosopher
Lebesgue, portrait by an unknown artist, 1929
Henri-Léon Lebesgue
French mathematician
Charles-Émile Picard.
Charles-Émile Picard
French mathematician
Laurent Lafforgue
French mathematician
Charles-François Sturm, pencil sketch by Daniel Colladon, 1822; in the Academy of Sciences, Paris.
Charles-François Sturm
French-Swiss mathematician
Camille Jordan
French mathematician
Yves-André Rocard
French mathematician and physicist
Édouard-Jean-Baptiste Goursat
French mathematician
Charles, Jacques-Alexandre-César
Jacques Charles
French physicist
Jean Le Rond d'Alembert.
Jean Le Rond d’Alembert
French mathematician and philosopher
Consider how Isaac Newton's discovery of gravity led to a better understanding of planetary motion
Isaac Newton
English physicist and mathematician

Related Quizzes and Features

Quiz
Equations written on blackboard
Numbers and Mathematics
Italian-born physicist Dr. Enrico Fermi draws a diagram at a blackboard with mathematical equations. circa 1950.
Physics and Natural Law
Michael Faraday (L) English physicist and chemist (electromagnetism) and John Frederic Daniell (R) British chemist and meteorologist who invented the Daniell cell.
Faces of Science