Background

Ethnicity: The Bernoulli family came originally from Antwerp, at that time in the Spanish Netherlands, but emigrated to escape the Spanish persecution of the Protestants. After a brief period in Frankfurt the family moved to Basel, in Switzerland.

Johann Bernoulli, II was born on May 18, 1710, in Basel, Switzerland, the youngest of the three sons of Johann Bernoulli, I and Dorothea Falkner.

Education

Bernoulli, II studied law and in 1727 he obtained the degree of doctor of jurisprudence.

Career

After travelling in France, Bernoulli, II was for five years professor of eloquence in the university of his native city.

On the death of his father, Bernoulli, II succeeded him as professor of mathematics at the University of Basel. He was thrice a successful competitor for the prizes of the Academy of Sciences of Paris. His prize subjects were the capstan, the propagation of light, and the magnet.

He enjoyed the friendship of P. L. M. de Maupertuis, who died under his roof while on his way to Berlin. Johann Bernoulli, II himself died on July 17, 1790, in Basel, Switzerland.

Achievements

• Johann Bernoulli, II is remembered as a mathematician and physicist, who worked mainly on heat and light, and personified the mathematical genius of his native city in the second half of the eighteenth century.

Personality

Johann Bernoulli, II was a rather shy person.

Physical Characteristics: Johann Bernoulli, II had a frail constitution.

Connections

Johann Bernoulli, II was married to Susanna König, by whom he had several sons.

Father:

Johann Bernoulli, I

Johann Bernoulli, I, also known as Jean or John, was a Swiss mathematician, classical philologist and professor of mathematics at the University of Basel, who is known for his contributions to infinitesimal calculus and educating Leonhard Euler in the pupil's youth.

Mother:

Dorothea Bernoulli (Falkner)

Brother:

Daniel Bernoulli

Daniel Bernoulli was a Swiss mathematician and physicist, who investigated not only mathematics but also such fields as medicine, biology, physiology, mechanics, physics, astronomy, and oceanography.

Brother:

Nicolaus Bernoulli, V

Nicolaus Bernoulli, V was a Swiss mathematician, professor of mathematics in the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences and one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family.

Sister:

Anna Catharina Dollfus (Bernoulli)

Sister:

Dorothea Battier (Bernoulli)

Brother:

Johann Jacob Bernoulli

Brother:

Emanuel Bernoulli, I

Uncle:

Jacob Bernoulli, I

Jacob Bernoulli, I, also known as James or Jacques, was a Swiss mathematician and professor of mathematics at the University of Basel, who devoted his career to the study of calculating complex numerical formulas.

Wife:

Susanna Bernoulli (König)

Son:

Jacob Bernoulli, II

Jacob Bernoulli, II was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, mathematical professor of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences, who worked in geometry and mathematical physics.

Son:

Johann Bernoulli, III

Johann Bernoulli, III, also known as Jean, was a German mathematician, astronomer and one of the last notable members of the Bernoulli family.

Son:

Nicolaus Bernoulli, VI

Son:

Daniel Bernoulli, II

Son:

Emanuel Bernoulli, II

Friend:

Pierre Louis Maupertuis

Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis was a French mathematician, philosopher and man of letters, who became the Director of the Académie des Sciences, and the first President of the Prussian Academy of Science, at the invitation of Frederick the Great.