Born: 17 October 1759 in Basel, Switzerland
Died: 15 August 1789 in St Petersburg, Russia

Jacob(II) Bernoulli was one of the sons of Johann(II) Bernoulli. Following the family tradition he took a degree in law but his interests were in mathematics and mathematical physics.

In 1782 Jacob(II) Bernoulli's uncle Daniel Bernoulli died and his chair of physics in Basel became vacant. Jacob(II) applied for the chair and presented a work on mathematical physics to support his application. The decison as to who should fill the vacant chair was not made on academic grounds but was made by drawing lots. Jacob(II) Bernoulli was unlucky and he was not offered this position he would really have liked.

He was then appointed as secretary to the Imperial Envoy to Turin and Venice. However, he was soon given the chance of another academic post when he received an offer from St Petersburg. He went to St Petersburg and began to write important works on mathematical physics which he presented to the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences. These treatises were on elasticity, hydrostatics and ballistics.

Despite the rather harsh climate, the city of St Petersburg had great attractions for Jacob(II) Bernoulli since his uncle Daniel Bernoulli had worked there with Euler. In fact Jacob(II) married a granddaughter of Euler in St Petersburg but, tragically, the city was to lead to his death.

Article by: J J O'Connor and E F Robertson

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