Table Of ContentJOSEPH
FOURIER
THE MAN AND
THE PHYSICIST
BY
JOHN HERIVEL
CLARENDON PRESS · OXFORD
1975
Oxford University Press, Ely House, London W.r
GLASGOW NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE WllLLlNGTON
CAPB TOWN IBADAN NAIROBI DAR ES SALAAM LUSAKA ADDIS ABABA
DELHI BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS lltARACHI LAHORB DACCA
ICUALA LUMPUR SINGAPORE HONG ICONG TOICYO
ISBN O 19 858149 I
©
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1975
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
WILLIAM CLOWES & SONS, LIMITED
LONDON, BECCLES AND COLCHESTER
FOR ELIZABETH
AND IN
MEMORY OF MY PARENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
MY PRIMARdYe bt is to certain institutions and individuals for the preserva
tion of historical material. As regards persons, I am particularly aware of
my debt to C. L. Bonard and his son Alphonse who out of feelings of respect
and affection were responsible for preserving the magnificent set of early
letters from Fourier to Bonard which make up the essential kernel of the
biographical part of this book. As regards institutions, I am indebted to
the Bibliotheque Nationale, the Archives Nationales, the archives of the
Academie des Sciences, the Bibliotheque de l'lnstitut, the departmental
archives of Isere, Rhone, and Yo nne, and the municipal libraries of
Auxerre, Grenoble, Lyons, Nantes, and Orleans. I am also indebted to
many individuals in these institutions for the help they so willingly gave
me to locate, copy, and, on occasion, photograph the various manuscripts in
question. Special mention, however, must be made of Madame Gauja and
her assistants in the archives of the Academie des Sciences, and of M. Hohl
and his assistants in the departmental archives of Yo nne.
I am indebted to the Research Committee of the Academic Council of
the Queen's University of Belfast for generous grants over a period of years
towards visits to various archives and libraries in France, and to the Publi
cation Fund for help towards the expenses of publication: to a succession
of assistants in the Library of Queen's University for inter-library loans,
and to Michael Henry for help in certain bibliographical matters. To
Anne Toal, Anne Dickson, Carol Powell, and Elizabeth Gregg for typing
and re-typing the various drafts of this book up to and including the final
version. I am also indebted to various colleagues: to Henry Barnwell for
helpful advice on the English translation of Fouriees letters to Bonard:
to Charles Gillispie, Henry Guerlac, Roger Hahn, and Pearce Williams
for their comments on an earlier version of Part I of this book. Also to
certain colleagues in the Societe des Sciences Historiques et Naturelles de
l'Yonne including Mssrs. Durr, Richard and, above all, Andre Casimir. To
M. Casimir's indefatigable help over a period of years I am indebted either
directly or indirectly for the location of a great part of the material on
which I have based my account in Chapter 2 of Fourier's part in the
Revolution in Auxerre.
CONTENTS
List of plates Xll
Abbreviations
X1l
Introduction 1
PART I
FOURIER THE MAN
1. Early life 5
1. Auxerre 5
2. St. Benoit-sur-Loire 8
3. Return to Auxerre 13
Notes 17
2. Fourier and the Revolution: Auxerre 27
The revolutionary vortex 27
I.
2. The Orleans affair 30
3. Imprisonment of Messidor Year II 38
Notes 46
3. Fourier and the Revolution: Paris 51
1. The Norma.lien 51
2. Imprisonment of Prairial Year III 54
3. The terrorist 57
4. The Polytechnicien 61
Notes 65
4. Years of exile: Egypt and Grenoble 69
1. Permanent secretary of the Cairo Institute 69
2. The prefect of Isere 76
3. Friendship with Bonard 82
Notes 85
5. Years of exile: Grenoble and Lyons 96
1. Extra-prefectorial duties 96
2. The first Restoration 104
3. Flight from Grenoble
106
4. Prefect of the Rhone
110
Notes 113
CONTENTS
X
6. Last years : return to Paris u8
1. The pension campaign 118
2. The Academicien 122
3. Friendships old and new 128
4. The Egyptian Society 130
5. Female relations 1
34
6. Last years 136
Notes 138
PART II
FOURIER THE PHYSICIST
7. Chronological account of researches in heat 149
Notes 159
8. Derivation and solution of the equation of motion of heat in
solid bodies 162
Derivation of equations 162
1.
2. Solution to equations 171
Notes 177
Expression for the flux of heat in solid bodies 180
9·
Notes 190
Miscellaneous topics 192
10.
Communication of heat between discrete bodies 192
I.
2. Terrestrial heat 197
3· Radiant heat 202
Movement of heat in fluids 205
4·
5. Papers not on analytical theory of heat 206
Notes 206
EPILOGUE
Fourier's achievement as a physicist 209
1.
2. The influence of Fourier's analytical theory of heat 216
3. Fourier the man and the physicist 229
Notes 238
APPENDIX
LETTERS
I. Fourier to Bonard, May 1788 243
I 1. Fourier to Bonard, March 1789 250
III. Fourier to Bonard, September 1789 253
CONTENTS
~
IV. Fourier to Bonard, October 1793 255
v. Fourier to administrators of the Department of Yonne,
January 1794 258
VI. Fourier to Bonard, January/February 1795 259
VII. Fourier to Bonard, March 1795 270
VIII. Fourier to Bergoeing, June 1795 276
IX. Fourier to Villetard, June/July 1795 280
x. Fourier to Bonard, October 1795 287
XI. Fourier to Bonard, November 1797 289
XII. Fourier to Bonard, November 1801 292
XIII. Fourier to Bonard, November 1802 297
XIV. Fourier to Bonard, January 1804 298
xv. Fourier to Bonard, no date 299
XVI. Fourier to Bonard, no date 301
XVII. Fourier to an unknown correspondent, around 1810 302
XVIII. Fourier to an unknown correspondent, around 1810 305
XIX. Fourier to an unknown correspondent, around 1810 307
xx. Fourier to Laplace, around 1808-g 316
XXI. Fourier to an unknown correspondent, around 18o8-g 318
XXII. Fourier to Bonard, February 1810 322
XXIII. Fourier to Minister of the Interior, March 1815 323
x x Iv. Fourier to Minister of the Interior, March 1815 32 4
xxv. Fourier to sub-prefects of the Department of the Rhone,
May 1815 325
XXVI. Fourier to the Ministers of War, Police, and the Interior,
May 1815 326
XXVII. Fourier to the Minister of the Interior, March 1816 327
XXVIII. Fourier to the president of the first class of the Institut. 331
Provenance of letters 333
BIBLIOGRAPHY 334
Primary sources: 334
Fourier 335
Other authors 336
Secondary Sources 337
Index 343
