born March 21, 1768, Auxerre, France
died May 16, 1830, Paris
French mathematician and Egyptologist.
While an engineer on Napoleon's Egyptian expedition, he conducted (1798–1801) anthropological investigations and wrote the preface to the monumental Description de l'Égypte , whose publication he oversaw (1809–28). In 1808 he was created a baron by Napoleon. In mathematics he is primarily known for his work in heat conduction (1807–22), for his use of the Fourier series to solve differential equation s, and for the related concept of the Fourier transform . As a scientist and humanist, he epitomized the spirit of French intellectualism of the Revolutionary era.
Joseph Fourier, lithograph by Jules Boilly, 1823; in the Académie des Sciences, Paris
Giraudon/Art Resource, New York