Daniel Bernoulli

Mathematician, born in Groningen, The Netherlands, the son of Johann Bernoulli. He studied medicine and mathematics, and became professor of mathematics at St Petersburg in 1725. In 1732 he returned to Basel to become professor of anatomy, then botany, and finally physics. He worked on trigonometric series, mechanics, vibrating systems, and hydrodynamics (anticipating the kinetic theory of gases), and solved a differential equation proposed by Jacopo Riccati, now known as Bernoulli's equation.

Daniel Bernoulli (Groningen, January 29, 1700 – Basel, March 17, 1782) was a Dutch-born mathematician who spent much of his life in Basel, Switzerland. Bernoulli's principle is of critical use in aerodynamics.

Born as the son of Johann Bernoulli, nephew of Jakob Bernoulli, younger brother of Nicolaus II Bernoulli, and older brother of Johann II, Daniel Bernoulli was by far the ablest of the younger Bernoullis. Upon both of them entering and tying for first place in a scientific contest at the University of Paris, Johann, unable to bear the "shame" of being compared to his offspring, banned Daniel from his house. Johann Bernoulli also tried to steal Daniel's book Hydrodynamica and rename it Hydraulica.

When Daniel was five, his younger brother Johann Bernoulli II was born.

He was a contemporary and intimate friend of Euler.

His earliest mathematical work was the Exercitationes (Mathematical Exercises), published in 1724, which contains a solution of the differential equation proposed by Jacopo Riccati (the Riccati equation). Bernoulli also wrote a large number of papers on various mechanical questions, especially on problems connected with vibrating strings, and the solutions given by Brook Taylor and by d'Alembert.

To understand the significance of Bernoulli's work on kinetic theory in the context of the development of thermodynamics, see Thermodynamics timeline Edit

He is the earliest writer who attempted to formulate a kinetic theory of gases, and he applied the idea to explain the law associated with the names of Robert Boyle and Edme Mariotte.

Daniel Bernoulli also was the author in 1738 of the "Exposition of a New Theory on the Measurement of Risk", (Econometrica vol 22 (1954), pp23-36; Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy) which St. Petersburg paradox was the base of the economic theory of risk aversion, risk premium and utility.