View source for Biography:Johann Bernoulli

{{short description|Swiss mathematician}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name        = Johann Bernoulli 
| image       = Johann_Bernoulli2.jpg
| image_size  = 220px
| caption     = Johann Bernoulli (portrait by Johann Rudolf Huber, {{circa|1740}})
| birth_place = [[Place:Basel|Basel]], [[Place:Old Swiss Confederacy|Switzerland]]
| death_date  = {{death date and age|df=yes|1748|1|1|1667|8|6}}
| death_place = [[Place:Basel|Basel]], [[Place:Old Swiss Confederacy|Switzerland]]
| signature   = Jean Bernoulli signature.png
| nationality = Swiss
| field       = [[Mathematics]]
| work_institution  = [[Organization:University of Groningen|University of Groningen]]<br />[[Organization:University of Basel|University of Basel]]
| education         = [[Organization:University of Basel|University of Basel]]<br />(M.D., 1694)
| thesis_title      = Dissertatio de effervescentia et fermentatione; Dissertatio Inauguralis Physico-Anatomica de Motu Musculorum (On the Mechanics of Effervescence and Fermentation and on the Mechanics of the Movement of the Muscles)
| thesis_url        = 
| thesis_year       = 1694 (1690)<ref>Published in 1690, submitted in 1694.</ref>
| academic_advisors = [[Biography:Jacob Bernoulli|Jacob Bernoulli]]
| doctoral_students = [[Biography:Daniel Bernoulli|Daniel Bernoulli]]<br/>[[Biography:Leonhard Euler|Leonhard Euler]]<br/>Johann Samuel König<br>[[Biography:Pierre Louis Maupertuis|Pierre Louis Maupertuis]]
| notable_students  = [[Biography:Guillaume de l'Hôpital|Guillaume de l'Hôpital]]
| known_for         = Development of infinitesimal calculus<br/> [[Catenary]] solution<br>Bernoulli's rule<br>Bernoulli's identity<br>Brachistochrone problem
| footnotes         = Brother of [[Biography:Jacob Bernoulli|Jacob Bernoulli]]; the father of [[Biography:Daniel Bernoulli|Daniel Bernoulli]], [[Biography:Nicolaus II Bernoulli|Nicolaus II Bernoulli]], and Johann II Bernoulli; and the uncle of [[Biography:Nicolaus I Bernoulli|Nicolaus I Bernoulli]].
}}

'''Johann Bernoulli'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|lang|b|ɜːr|ˈ|n|uː|l|i}} {{respell|bur|NOO|lee}},<ref>{{cite LPD|3}}</ref> {{IPA|de-CH|ˈjoːhan bɛrˈnʊli|lang}}.<ref>Mangold, Max (1990). ''Duden — Das Aussprachewörterbuch''. 3. Auflage. Mannheim/Wien/Zürich, Dudenverlag.</ref>}} (also known as '''Jean''' in French or '''John''' in English; {{OldStyleDate|6 August|1667|27 July}} – 1 January 1748) was a Swiss mathematician and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the [[Bernoulli family]]. He is known for his contributions to infinitesimal calculus and educating [[Biography:Leonhard Euler|Leonhard Euler]] in the pupil's youth.

==Biography==
===Early life===
Johann was born in [[Place:Basel|Basel]], the son of Nicolaus Bernoulli, an apothecary, and his wife, Margarethe Schongauer, and began studying medicine at [[Organization:University of Basel|University of Basel]].  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 [[Biography:Jacob Bernoulli|Jacob Bernoulli]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Sanford |first=Vera |title=A Short History of Mathematics |publisher=Read Books |orig-year=1958 |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4097-2710-1 |oclc=607532308 |edition=2nd}}</ref> 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]] but to apply it to various problems.<ref>''The Bernoulli Family'', by H. Bernhard, Doubleday, Page & Company, (1938)</ref> In 1690,<ref name="Maquet,Ziggelaar_1997">{{cite book|first1=Johan|last1=Bernoulli|author2= Paul G. J. Maquet|author3= August Ziggelaar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hx4LAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA5|title=Dissert👩🏼‍🦰atio de Effervescent Et Fermentatione|pages=5–6|publisher=American Philosophical Society |year= 1997|doi=10.2307/1006610|jstor=1006610|isbn= 9780871698735|issn=0065-9746|series=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society |volume=87 (Part 3)|oclc=185537598|access-date=July 16, 2021}}</ref> he completed a degree dissertation in medicine,<ref name="PMC7927718">{{cite journal|first1=David Eugene|last1=Smith|title=Medicine and Mathematics in the Sixteenth Century|pmc=7927718|pmid= 33943138|journal=Ann. Med. Hist. |date=July 1, 1917 |volume= 1|issue=2|pages=125–140|oclc=12650954}} (here cited p. 133).</ref> reviewed by Leibniz,<ref name="Maquet,Ziggelaar_1997" /> whose title was ''De Motu musculorum et de effervescent et fermentation''.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://bdh-rd.bne.es/viewer.vm?id=0000215642&page=1|title=De mote musculorum, de effervescent a et fermentations dissertations physico-mechanicae: Account Petri Antoni Michelotti|publisher=Pinelli|year=1721|oclc=433236093|access-date=July 16, 2021}}</ref>

===Adult life===
After graduating from Basel University, Johann Bernoulli moved to teach differential equations. Later, in 1694, he married Dorothea Falkner, the daughter of an alderman of Basel, and soon after accepted a position as the professor of mathematics at the [[Organization:University of Groningen|University of Groningen]]. 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 [[Medicine:Tuberculosis|tuberculosis]]. 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 [[Biography:Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz|Leibniz]]'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 [[Biography:Isaac Newton|Newton]] had failed to solve. Bernoulli also promoted Descartes' [[Physics:Mechanical explanations of gravitation#Vortex|vortex theory]] over [[Physics:Newton's law of universal gravitation|Newton's theory of gravitation]]. This ultimately delayed acceptance of Newton's theory in [[Earth:Continental Europe|continental Europe]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Joachim O. |last=Fleckenstein |title=Johann und Jakob Bernoulli |publisher=Birkhäuser |orig-year=1949 |year=1977 |isbn=3764308486 |language=de |oclc=4062356 |edition=2nd}}</ref>
[[File:Leibniz - Opere. Lettere e carteggi, 1745 - 1359735 F.jpeg|thumb|''Commercium philosophicum et mathematicum'' (1745), a collection of letters between [[Biography:Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz|Leibnitz]] and Bernoulli]]

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 [[Physics:Vacuum|vacuum]] 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. 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, [[Biography:Daniel Bernoulli|Daniel]]. In 1738 the father–son duo nearly simultaneously published separate works on [[Physics:Hydrodynamics|hydrodynamics]].  Johann attempted to take precedence over his son by purposely and falsely predating his work two years prior to his son's.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/worldsofflowhist0000darr | url-access=registration | page=[https://archive.org/details/worldsofflowhist0000darr/page/9 9] |title = Worlds of Flow: A History of Hydrodynamics from the Bernoullis to Prandtl| publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn = 9780198568438|last1 = Darrigol|first1 = Olivier|date = September 2005}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9uf97reZZCUC&pg=PA133 |title = Discovering the Principles of Mechanics 1600-1800: Essays by David Speiser|isbn = 9783764385644|last1 = Speiser|first1 = David|last2 = Williams|first2 = Kim|date = 18 September 2008}}</ref>

The Bernoulli brothers often worked on the same problems, but not without friction. Their most bitter dispute concerned the [[Physics:Brachistochrone curve|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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Livio|first=Mario|title=The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bUARfgWRH14C|orig-year=2002|edition=First trade paperback|year=2003|publisher={{wipe|Random House}}|location=New York City|isbn=0-7679-0816-3|page=116}}</ref>

Bernoulli was hired by [[Biography:Guillaume de l'Hôpital|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|l'Hôpital's rule]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Eli |last=Maor |title=e: The Story of a Number |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1998 |isbn=0-691-05854-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/estoryofnumber0000maor_x8v0/page/116 116] |oclc=29310868 |url=https://archive.org/details/estoryofnumber0000maor_x8v0/page/116 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Coolidge |first=Julian Lowell |title=The mathematics of great amateurs |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |year=1990 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/mathematicsofgre0000cool/page/154 154–163] |isbn=0-19-853939-8 |oclc=20418646 |edition=2nd |orig-year=1963 |url=https://archive.org/details/mathematicsofgre0000cool/page/154 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=D. J. |last=Struik |author-link=J. D. Struik |title=A Source Book in Mathematics: 1200–1800 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XmRsZhJZGhEC&pg=PA312 |year=1969 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-82355-6 |pages=312–6}}</ref> 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:
<!--{{quote|Je reconnais devoir beaucoup aux lumières de MM. Bernoulli, surtout à celles du jeune (Jean) présentement professeur à Groningue. Je me suis servi sans façon de leurs découvertes et de celles de M. Leibniz. C'est pourquoi je consens qu'ils en revendiquent tout ce qu'il leur plaira, me contentant de ce qu'ils voudront bien me laisser.}}-->
{{quote|I recognize I owe much to the insights of the Messrs. Bernoulli, especially to those of the younger (John), currently a professor in Groningen. I did unceremoniously use their discoveries, as well as those of Mr. Leibniz. For this reason I consent that they claim as much credit as they please, and will content myself with what they will agree to leave me.}}

[[File:Acta Eruditorum - II strumenti, 1713 – BEIC 13382570.jpg|thumb|Illustration from ''De motu corporum gravium'' published in ''Acta Eruditorum'', 1713]]

==Works==
* {{cite book |title=De motu musculorum|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=12726734|location=Venezia|agency=Giovanni Antonio Pinelli & Almoro Pinelli|language=la|year=1721}}
* {{cite book |title=Recherches physiques et géométriques sur la question comment se fait la propagation de la lumière|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=13083|location=Paris|agency=Imprimerie Royale|language=fr|year=1736}}
* {{cite book |title=[Opere]|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=1310214|location=Lausanne|agency=Marc Michel Bousquet & C.|volume=1|language=fr|year=1742}}
** {{cite book |title=[Opere]|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=1524873|location=Lausanne|agency=Marc Michel Bousquet & C.|volume=2|language=fr|year=1742}}
** {{cite book |title=[Opere]|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=1311531|location=Lausanne|agency=Marc Michel Bousquet & C.|volume=3|language=fr|year=1742}}
** {{cite book |title=[Opere]|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=1312882|location=Lausanne|agency=Marc Michel Bousquet & C.|volume=4|language=fr|year=1742}}
* {{Cite book
| publisher = sn
| language = fr
| last = Bernoulli
| first = Johann
| title = Analyse de l'Opus Palatinum de Rheticus et du Thesaurus mathematicus de Pitiscus
| location = Parigi
| access-date = 18 June 2015
| date = 1786
| url = https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=1323305
}}

* {{Cite book
| publisher = sn
| language = la
| last = Bernoulli
| first = Johann
| title = Dissertatio de ancoris
| location = Leipzig
| access-date = 20 June 2018
| date = 1739
| url = http://atena.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=13462574&search_terms=DTL51
}}
<gallery mode="nolines">
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''
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Sophomore's dream]] – a pair of analytical identities by Bernoulli
*[[Partial fraction decomposition]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{MathGenealogy |id= 53410}}
* {{MacTutor Biography|id=Bernoulli_Johann}}
* Golba, Paul, "''[https://web.archive.org/web/20040414104220/http://www.shu.edu/projects/reals/history/bernoull.html Bernoulli, Johan]'''"
* "''[http://www.bernoulli.ag.vu/ Johann Bernoulli]''"
* {{ScienceWorldBiography | urlname=BernoulliJohann | title=Bernoulli, Johann (1667–1748)}}
* {{cite journal |first=C. |last=Truesdell |title=The New Bernoulli Edition |journal=Isis |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=54–62 |date=March 1958 |jstor=226604 |doi=10.1086/348639|s2cid=143648596 }} discusses the strange agreement between Bernoulli and de l'Hôpital on pages 59–62.

{{Bernoulli family}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernoulli, Johann}}
[[Category:Fluid dynamicists]]

{{Sourceattribution|Johann Bernoulli}}