Bernoulli, Daniel (1700-1782), Dutch-born Swiss scientist, who discovered the
basic principles of fluid behaviour. He was the son of Johann Bernoulli and the
nephew of Jakob Bernoulli, both of whom made major contributions to the early
development of calculus.
Bernoulli was born in Groningen, the Netherlands, on January 29, 1700, and took
an early interest in mathematics. Although he earned a medical degree in 1721,
he became a Professor of Mathematics at the Russian Academy in St Petersburg in
1725. He later taught experimental philosophy, anatomy, and botany at the universities
of Groningen and Basle, Switzerland.
Bernoulli pioneered in Europe the acceptance of the new physics of the English
scientist Isaac Newton. He studied the flow of fluids and formulated the principle
that the pressure exerted by a fluid is inversely proportional to its rate of
flow (see Bernoulli's Principle). He used atomistic concepts in trying to develop
the first kinetic theory of gases, accounting for their behaviour under conditions
of changing pressure and temperature in probabilistic terms. This work, however,
did not gain wide notice at the time. Bernoulli died in Basle on March 17, 1782.
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