Nicolaus (II) Bernoulli

Quick Info

Born

6 February 1695
Basel, Switzerland

Died

31 July 1726
St Petersburg, Russia

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Summary

Nicolaus (II) Bernoulli was the favourite of three sons of Johann Bernoulli. He made important mathematical contributions to the problem of trajectories while working on the mathematical arguments behind the dispute between Newton and Leibniz.

Biography

Nicolaus (II) Bernoulli was the favourite of three sons of Johann Bernoulli. He entered the University of Basel when only 13 years of age and, like many other members of his family, studied both mathematics and law. In 1715 he became a licentiate in jurisprudence.

You can see the Bernoulli family tree at THIS LINK

Nicolaus worked as his father's assistant helping him with correspondence. In particular he was involved with writing letters concerning the famous priority dispute between Newton and Leibniz. He not only replied to Taylor regarding the dispute but he also made important mathematical contributions to the problem of trajectories while working on the mathematical arguments behind the dispute.

Nicolaus worked on curves, differential equations and probability. He died only 8 months after taking up an appointment in St Petersburg at a young age when his talents promised so much for the future. Fleckstein writes in [1]:-

With his brother Daniel he travelled in France and Italy, where both received appointments to the St Petersburg Academy. Within a year, however, he contracted and died of a hectic fever.

References (show)

1. J O Fleckenstein, Biography in Dictionary of Scientific Biography (New York 1970-1990). See THIS LINK.
2. H Bernhard, The Bernoulli family, in H Wussing and W Arnold, Biographien bedeutender Mathematiker (Berlin, 1983).
3. V A Nikiforovskii, The great mathematicians Bernoulli (Russian), History of Science and Technology Nauka' (Moscow, 1984).
4. M Hürlimann (ed.), Die Mathematikerfamilie Bernoulli, Grosse Schweizer (Zürich, 1942), 112-119.
5. A P Yushkevich, Nikolas Bernoulli and the publication of 'Ars conjectandi' by Jacob Bernoulli (Russian), Teor. Veroyatnost. i Primenen. 31 (2) (1986), 333-352.

Additional Resources (show)

Other pages about Nicolaus (II) Bernoulli:

1. Bernoulli family tree

Other websites about Nicolaus (II) Bernoulli:

1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
2. MathSciNet Author profile
3. zbMATH entry

Cross-references (show)

1. History Topics: The fundamental theorem of algebra

Written by J J O'Connor and E F Robertson
Last Update October 1997