The Bernoulli family () of

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

was a

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

family, notable for having produced eight mathematically gifted academics who, among them, contributed substantially to the development of mathematics and physics during the early modern period.

History

Originally from Antwerp, a branch of the family relocated to Basel in 1620. While their origin in Antwerp is certain, proposed earlier connections with the Dutch family ''Bornouilla'' (''Bernoullie''), or with the Castilian family ''de Bernuy'' (''Bernoille'', ''Bernouille''), are uncertain. The first known member of the family was Leon Bernoulli (d. 1561), a doctor in Antwerp, at that time part of the

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the H ...

. His son, Jacob, emigrated to

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

in 1570 to escape from the Spanish persecution of the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

s. Jacob's grandson, a spice trader, also named Jacob, moved to

, Switzerland in 1620, and was granted citizenship in 1622. His son, (Nicolaus, 1623–1708), Leon's great-great-grandson, married Margarethe Schönauer.

Notable academic members

Niklaus had four sons, of whom Johann and Hieronymus became the progenitors of the "greater" and the "lesser" branches of the family, respectively. The "greater" branch later became related by marriage to the prominent French academic dynasty, the

Curie family The Curie family is a French family with a number of illustrious scientists. Several members were awarded the Nobel Prize, including physics, chemistry, or the Nobel Peace Prize. Pierre Curie, his Polish-born wife Marie Curie, their daughter, Ir ...

, through

Johann Bernoulli Johann Bernoulli (also known as Jean or John; – 1 January 1748) was a Swiss mathematician and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family. He is known for his contributions to infinitesimal calculus and educating Le ...

(1667–1748). The four sons of Niklaus were: *

Jacob Bernoulli Jacob Bernoulli (also known as James or Jacques; – 16 August 1705) was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family. He was an early proponent of Leibnizian calculus and sided with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz during the Le ...

(1654–1705; also known as James or Jacques), mathematician after whom

Bernoulli numbers In mathematics, the Bernoulli numbers are a sequence of rational numbers which occur frequently in analysis. The Bernoulli numbers appear in (and can be defined by) the Taylor series expansions of the tangent and hyperbolic tangent functions, ...

are named, and author of the early probability text ''

Ars Conjectandi (Latin for "The Art of Conjecturing") is a book on combinatorics and mathematical probability written by Jacob Bernoulli and published in 1713, eight years after his death, by his nephew, Niklaus Bernoulli. The seminal work consolidated, apa ...

'' * Nicolaus Bernoulli (1662–1716), painter and

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

of Basel *

(1667–1748; also known as Jean), mathematician and early adopter of infinitesimal calculus * Hieronymus Bernoulli (1669–1760), m. Catharina Ebneter In addition to

Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...

and

Johann Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious ...

, the Bernoulli family of mathematicians is generally taken to include: *

Nicolaus I Bernoulli Nicolaus Bernoulli (also spelled Nicolas or Nikolas; 21 October 1687, Basel – 29 November 1759, Basel) was a Swiss mathematician and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family. Biography He was the son of Nicolaus Bern ...

(1687–1759), son of Nicolaus, mathematician, worked on curves, differential equations, and

probability Probability is the branch of mathematics concerning numerical descriptions of how likely an event is to occur, or how likely it is that a proposition is true. The probability of an event is a number between 0 and 1, where, roughly speakin ...

; originator of the

St. Petersburg paradox The St. Petersburg paradox or St. Petersburg lottery is a paradox involving the game of flipping a coin where the expected payoff of the theoretical lottery game approaches infinity but nevertheless seems to be worth only a very small amount to t ...

Nicolaus II Bernoulli Nicolaus II Bernoulli, a.k.a. Niklaus Bernoulli, Nikolaus Bernoulli (6 February 1695, Basel, Switzerland – 31 July 1726, St. Petersburg, Russia) was a Swiss mathematician as were his father Johann Bernoulli and one of his brothers, Daniel Be ...

(1695–1726), son of Johann * Daniel Bernoulli (1700–1782), son of Johann, developer of

Bernoulli's principle In fluid dynamics, Bernoulli's principle states that an increase in the speed of a fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in static pressure or a decrease in the fluid's potential energy. The principle is named after the Swiss mathematici ...

and originator of the concept of

expected utility The expected utility hypothesis is a popular concept in economics that serves as a reference guide for decisions when the payoff is uncertain. The theory recommends which option rational individuals should choose in a complex situation, based on the ...

for resolving the St. Petersburg paradox *

Johann II Bernoulli Johann II Bernoulli (18 May 1710, in Basel – 17 July 1790, in Basel; also known as Jean) was the youngest of the three sons of the Swiss mathematician Johann Bernoulli. He studied law and mathematics, and, after travelling in France, was for fiv ...

(1710–1790; also known as Jean), son of Johann, mathematician and physicist *

Johann III Bernoulli Johann III Bernoulli (also known as Jean; 4 November 1744, Basel – 13 July 1807, Berlin), grandson of Johann Bernoulli and son of Johann II Bernoulli, was known around the world as a child prodigy. Biography He studied at Basel and at Neu ...

(1744–1807; also known as Jean), son of Johann II, astronomer, geographer and mathematician *

Jacob II Bernoulli Jakob II Bernoulli (17 October 1759, in Basel – 3 July 1789, in Saint Petersburg), younger brother of Johann III Bernoulli, was a Swiss physicist. Biography Having finished his literary studies, he was, according to custom, sent to Neuchâtel t ...

(1759–1789; also known as Jacques), son of Johann II, physicist and mathematician Several more recent prominent scholars are also descended from the family, including: * (1831–1913), art historian and archaeologist; noted for his ''Römische Ikonographie'' (1882 onwards) on Roman Imperial portraits *

Ludwig Bernoully Ludwig Bernoully (23 May 1873 – 13 January 1928) was a German architect. Most of his buildings were constructed in and around Frankfurt am Main, the city where he was born and where he died, suddenly. He was a scion of a distinguished family ...

(1873–1928), German architect in Frankfurt * Hans Bernoulli (1876–1959), architect and designer of the Bernoullihäuser in Zurich and Grenchen SO * Elisabeth Bernoulli (1873–1935), suffragette and campaigner against alcoholism The surname survives in Switzerland, with ten entries in the white pages for the city of Basel as of 2018.tel.search.ch
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Family Tree of the Basler Bernoullis

Named for members of the family

Bernoulli differential equation In mathematics, an ordinary differential equation is called a Bernoulli differential equation if it is of the form : y'+ P(x)y = Q(x)y^n, where n is a real number. Some authors allow any real n, whereas others require that n not be 0 or 1. The ...

Bernoulli distribution In probability theory and statistics, the Bernoulli distribution, named after Swiss mathematician Jacob Bernoulli,James Victor Uspensky: ''Introduction to Mathematical Probability'', McGraw-Hill, New York 1937, page 45 is the discrete probabi ...

Bernoulli number In mathematics, the Bernoulli numbers are a sequence of rational numbers which occur frequently in analysis. The Bernoulli numbers appear in (and can be defined by) the Taylor series expansions of the tangent and hyperbolic tangent functions, ...

* Bernoulli polynomials * Bernoulli process *

Bernoulli trial In the theory of probability and statistics, a Bernoulli trial (or binomial trial) is a random experiment with exactly two possible outcomes, "success" and "failure", in which the probability of success is the same every time the experiment is ...

Bernoulli's triangle Bernoulli's triangle is an array of partial sums of the binomial coefficients. For any non-negative integer ''n'' and for any integer ''k'' included between 0 and ''n'', the component in row ''n'' and column ''k'' is given by: : \sum_^k , i ...

References

External links

Family tree
at the MacTutor History of Mathematics archive.
David Darling ''Encyclopedia of Science'' Bernoulli family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernoulli Family History of Basel History of mathematics Patriciate of Basel Scientific families Families of Belgian ancestry