Daniel Bernoulli(1700 — 1782)
Daniel Bernoulli
Suisse
7 min read
Swiss mathematician and physicist (1700–1782), son of Johann Bernoulli. He is famous for his principle of hydrodynamics, which establishes the relationship between the velocity and pressure of fluids — the foundation of modern aerodynamics.
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Born in Groningen in 1700, into the renowned Bernoulli dynasty of mathematicians
- Published *Hydrodynamica* in 1738, a founding work of fluid mechanics
- Formulated Bernoulli's principle: in a flowing fluid, an increase in velocity causes a decrease in pressure
- Professor of mathematics and physics at the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences, then at Basel
- Pioneering work in probability theory and the kinetic theory of gases
Works & Achievements
Bernoulli's masterpiece and the founding work of modern hydrodynamics. In it he formulates the principle that bears his name: in a fluid flow, the sum of pressure, kinetic energy, and potential energy remains constant.
Bernoulli's first major work, published in Venice, which earned him a place at the St. Petersburg Academy. It deals with differential equations and fluid flows.
A pioneering text in mathematical epidemiology in which Bernoulli applies probability theory to demonstrate the collective benefit of variolation — a forerunner of modern reasoning about vaccines.
In this work Bernoulli lays the groundwork for the principle of superposition of vibrational modes, a key contribution to acoustics and to the Fourier analysis that would be developed in the following century.
In this visionary chapter, Bernoulli explains the pressure of a gas through the motion and collisions of its particles — anticipating by a century the formal kinetic theory of gases later developed by Clausius and Maxwell.
Anecdotes
Daniel Bernoulli came from a true dynasty of mathematicians: his father Johann, his uncle Jacob, and several other family members were all renowned mathematicians. The family pressure was so intense that his father wanted to force him into becoming a merchant, fearing he would be overshadowed by his own son. Daniel had to fight for the right to study mathematics.
In 1738, Daniel published his masterpiece 'Hydrodynamica'. His father Johann, jealous of his son's success, hastily wrote a competing work titled 'Hydraulica' and fraudulently backdated it to 1732 to appear as though he had come up with the ideas first. This act of plagiarism by his own father remains one of the most scandalous episodes in the history of science.
The rivalry between Daniel and Johann Bernoulli reached its peak when both entered the same competition run by the Paris Academy of Sciences. Daniel won, but Johann, humiliated at having to share the glory with his own son, literally threw him out of his house. The two men never truly reconciled.
Daniel Bernoulli was one of the first scientists to apply mathematics to medicine. In 1760, he published a probabilistic analysis showing that variolization (the forerunner of vaccination) saved lives on average, despite the individual risk it carried. This pioneering work laid the groundwork for risk assessment in public health.
Although he is best known for his principle on fluid flow, Daniel Bernoulli also contributed to the kinetic theory of gases, explaining the pressure of a gas by the collisions of its molecules against the walls of a container — a brilliant insight that physics would not fully confirm until a century later, with the work of Clausius and Maxwell.
Primary Sources
The pressure exerted by a moving fluid decreases as its velocity increases. This principle, established through mathematical and experimental demonstration, governs the flow of fluids through pipes and channels.
Daniel Bernoulli presents his early work on differential equations and fluid flows, laying the groundwork for what would become modern hydrodynamics.
By applying probability calculus to mortality data, Bernoulli demonstrates that variolization can increase the average life expectancy of the population, despite a non-zero individual risk.
These letters, exchanged between 1726 and the 1750s, bear witness to a fruitful collaboration on fluid mechanics, vibrating strings, and probability theory.
Key Places
Daniel Bernoulli's birthplace in 1700, where his father Johann held a chair in mathematics. Daniel spent his early years there before the family returned to Basel.
The Bernoulli family's home city and the site of Daniel's entire academic career after his return from Russia. He taught medicine, physics, and mathematics at the university there until his death in 1782.
Daniel worked there from 1725 to 1733, in an elite scientific environment alongside Euler. It was there that he developed the foundational ideas that would lead to the *Hydrodynamica*.
Bernoulli entered the Paris Académie royale des sciences prize competitions on multiple occasions and won ten prizes over the course of his career, earning him international recognition.
The institution where Daniel Bernoulli earned his doctorate in medicine in 1720, and where he subsequently held the chairs of anatomy, botany, and experimental physics for more than forty years.
