What is Joseph Fourier?
{{Infobox Scientist | name = Joseph Fourier | image = Fourier2.jpg | caption = Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier | birth_date = {{birth date|1768|3|21|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Auxerre]], [[Yonne]], [[France]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1830|5|16|1768|3|21|df=yes}} | death_place = [[Paris]], [[France]] | nationality = [[France|French]] | field = [[Mathematician]], [[physicist]], and [[historian]] | work_institution = [[École Normale]]<br /> [[École Polytechnique]] | alma_mater = [[École Normale]] | known_for = [[Fourier transform]] <br />[[Greenhouse effect]] | prizes = | footnotes = }} '''Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier''' (21 March 1768 – 30 May 1830) was a [[France|French]] [[mathematician]] and [[physicist]]. He is best known for starting the investigation of [[Fourier series]]. He used them for work on problems of heat flow. Fourier also helped the discovery of the [[greenhouse effect]], by suggesting the [[atmosphere]] might act as an [[Thermal insulation|insulator]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Cowie |first=J. |year=2007 |title=Climate Change: biological and human aspects |url=https://archive.org/details/climatechangebio00cowi_639 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-69619-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/climatechangebio00cowi_639/page/n20 3]}}</ref> == Life == Fourier was born at [[Auxerre]] as the son of a [[tailor]]. He lost both his parents at the age of 9. He then went on to study at the Convent of St Mark. He joined the military academy in Auxerre. Aged sixteen, he became a teacher. At age 26, he entered the [[École normale supérieure]] in Paris. People like [[Joseph-Louis Lagrange]], [[Gaspard Monge]], and [[Pierre-Simon de Laplace]] were among his teachers. He took part in the [[French Revolution]] of 1789. During the [[Reign of Terror]] he was almost executed at the [[guillotine]], but the death of [[Robespierre]] saved him this fate. He later took part in the French campaign in [[Egypt]] and [[Syria]]. Later, as a [[diplomat]], he is put in charge of the scientific