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BERNOULLI, Johann, 'the Elder' (1667-1748). Autograph letter signed to Jean-Jacques Dortous de Mairan, Basle, 1 March 1724, 10 pages, 4to, integral address leaf ('Monsieur De Mairan de l'Académie Royale des Sciences au Vieux Louvre'), numbered '8' and dated again in red ink in a different hand at top of 1st page, occasional underlining in red pencil, traces of seal (seal tears, small traces of former binding at central vertical folds).
AN IMPORTANT SCIENTIFIC LETTER TO A DISTINGUISHED FELLOW MATHEMATICIAN discussing his dissertation on energy ('la force vive'), his work on the relationship between finitude and infinity and his disagreements with Varignon. The letter opens with the hope that, as there are only 14 entries for the Grand Prix of the Académie Royale des Sciences, his own dissertation has a good chance of success; Bernoulli goes on to outline its main thrust in demonstrating the 'principle of energy': 'De la manière que vous me parlez, il paroit que vous croyez que je suppose le principe de la force vive comme un hypothèse; mais bien loin de le supposer, mon but principal est de le démonstrer; j'en fai le point essentiel et capital de tout mon ouvrage, les démonstrations que j'en donne sont nouvelles mais convaincantes et audessus de toute réplique: je suis impatient d'apprendre votre sentiment là dessus ... Vous dites que le principe des forces vives n'est pas reçu d'aucun des Géomètres de la compagnie. Je n'en suis pas surpris, cette question n'y a jamais été agitée avec asses de vigueur qui eût donné occasion pour méditer avec autant d'application qu'il seroit nécessaire sur la nature de ces forces, ni par conséquent pour approfondir ce qu'il y a plus essentiel'. Bernoulli proceeds to criticise the outdated views of Pierre de Varigon: 'Quand vous aures l'occasion de lire mes lettres écrites à Lui, vous serez étonné de voir combien de fois mes avis et corrections Lui étoient nécessaires même dans des choses qu'il étoit sur le point de publier non sans hazarder en quelque manière sa réputation, si je ne l'en avois pas empêché.'
The paper on 'La force vive' that Bernoulli had submitted was an early and controversial formulation of the principle of the conservation of energy in which Bernoulli followed Leibniz and opposed the followers of Descartes and Newton. The prize was in the end awarded not to Bernoulli but to MacLaurin of Aberdeen with Bernoulli nominated proxime accessit.
A pioneer in exponential calculus, Johann Bernoulli 'the Elder', was perhaps the most eminent of the famous Swiss family of mathematicians and scientists. In his youth a member of Malebranche's circle in Paris, he succeeded his brother, Jacob, in 1707, as professor of mathematics at Basle, and was known to Maupertuis and Voltaire whom he visited at Cirey. In his correspondence with Leibniz, published in 1745, Bernoulli moved his ideas on infinity forward into the realms of philosophy but, polemical by nature, his relationships with colleagues were often marred by his jealousy. Jean-Jacques Dortous de Mairan (1678-1771), mathematician and astronomer and friend of Voltaire, was secretary and then director of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris from 1740. In 1729 he successfully demonstrated the existence of circadian rhythm in plants, and made important astronomic observations; the Mairan crater on the moon was named after him.
AN IMPORTANT SCIENTIFIC LETTER TO A DISTINGUISHED FELLOW MATHEMATICIAN discussing his dissertation on energy ('la force vive'), his work on the relationship between finitude and infinity and his disagreements with Varignon. The letter opens with the hope that, as there are only 14 entries for the Grand Prix of the Académie Royale des Sciences, his own dissertation has a good chance of success; Bernoulli goes on to outline its main thrust in demonstrating the 'principle of energy': 'De la manière que vous me parlez, il paroit que vous croyez que je suppose le principe de la force vive comme un hypothèse; mais bien loin de le supposer, mon but principal est de le démonstrer; j'en fai le point essentiel et capital de tout mon ouvrage, les démonstrations que j'en donne sont nouvelles mais convaincantes et audessus de toute réplique: je suis impatient d'apprendre votre sentiment là dessus ... Vous dites que le principe des forces vives n'est pas reçu d'aucun des Géomètres de la compagnie. Je n'en suis pas surpris, cette question n'y a jamais été agitée avec asses de vigueur qui eût donné occasion pour méditer avec autant d'application qu'il seroit nécessaire sur la nature de ces forces, ni par conséquent pour approfondir ce qu'il y a plus essentiel'. Bernoulli proceeds to criticise the outdated views of Pierre de Varigon: 'Quand vous aures l'occasion de lire mes lettres écrites à Lui, vous serez étonné de voir combien de fois mes avis et corrections Lui étoient nécessaires même dans des choses qu'il étoit sur le point de publier non sans hazarder en quelque manière sa réputation, si je ne l'en avois pas empêché.'
The paper on 'La force vive' that Bernoulli had submitted was an early and controversial formulation of the principle of the conservation of energy in which Bernoulli followed Leibniz and opposed the followers of Descartes and Newton. The prize was in the end awarded not to Bernoulli but to MacLaurin of Aberdeen with Bernoulli nominated proxime accessit.
A pioneer in exponential calculus, Johann Bernoulli 'the Elder', was perhaps the most eminent of the famous Swiss family of mathematicians and scientists. In his youth a member of Malebranche's circle in Paris, he succeeded his brother, Jacob, in 1707, as professor of mathematics at Basle, and was known to Maupertuis and Voltaire whom he visited at Cirey. In his correspondence with Leibniz, published in 1745, Bernoulli moved his ideas on infinity forward into the realms of philosophy but, polemical by nature, his relationships with colleagues were often marred by his jealousy. Jean-Jacques Dortous de Mairan (1678-1771), mathematician and astronomer and friend of Voltaire, was secretary and then director of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris from 1740. In 1729 he successfully demonstrated the existence of circadian rhythm in plants, and made important astronomic observations; the Mairan crater on the moon was named after him.
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