Johann Bernoulli was born in Basel, the son of Nicolaus Bernoulli, an apothecary. His father desired that he study business to take over the family spice trade. Johann did not like business and convinced his father to allow him to study medicine instead. He began studying mathematics on the side with his older brother Jacob Bernoulli. Throughout his education at Basel University, the brothers worked together. They spent much time studying the newly discovered infinitesimal calculus. They were among the first mathematicians to apply it to various problems. In 1690, he completed a degree dissertation in medicine. This work was reviewed by Gottfried Leibniz.
The Groningen And Basel Chairs
After graduating from Basel University, Johann moved to teach differential equations. In 1694, he married Dorothea Falkner, the daughter of an alderman of Basel. Soon after, he accepted a position as professor of mathematics at the University of Groningen. At the request of his father-in-law, Bernoulli began the voyage back to his home town of Basel in 1705. Just after setting out on the journey, he learned of his brother's death to tuberculosis. Bernoulli had planned on becoming the professor of Greek at Basel University upon returning. Instead, he took over as professor of mathematics, his older brother's former position. As a student of Leibniz's calculus, Bernoulli sided with him in 1713 in the Leibniz, Newton debate.Defending The Continental Calculus
Bernoulli defended Leibniz by showing that he had solved certain problems with his methods that Newton had failed to solve. He also promoted Descartes' vortex theory over Newton's theory of gravitation. This ultimately delayed acceptance of Newton's theory in continental Europe. In 1724, Johann entered a competition sponsored by the French Académie Royale des Sciences. The question asked about laws governing how a perfectly hard body moves another body. In defending a view previously espoused by Leibniz, he found himself postulating an infinite external force required to make the body elastic. Consequently, he was disqualified for the prize, which was won by Maclaurin. However, Bernoulli's paper was subsequently accepted in 1726 when the Académie considered papers regarding elastic bodies.