"[T]he functions obtained by successive differentiations, which are employed in the development of infinite series and in the solution of numerical equations, correspond also to physical properties. The first of these functions, or the properly so called, expresses in geometry the inclination of the tangent of a curved line, and in dynamics the velocity of a moving body when the motion varies; in the theory of heat it measures the quantity of heat which flows at each point of a body across a given surface. Mathematical analysis has therefore necessary relations with sensible phenomena; its object is not created by human intelligence; it is a pre-existent element of the universal order, and is not in any way contingent or fortuitous; it is imprinted throughout all nature."
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The Analytic Theory of Heat
The Analytic Theory of Heat (1878) is a translation by Alexander Freeman, M.A., with notes, of Joseph Fourier's Théorie Analytique de la Chaleur (1822). Fourier based his reasoning on : the flow of heat between two adjacent molecules is proportional to the extremely small difference of their temperatures. In this work Fourier claims that any function of a variable, can be expanded in a series of sines of multiples of the variable. Though not correct without additional conditions, Fourier's obser
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