Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier was a French mathematician and physicist born in Auxerre, Burgundy and best known for initiating the investigation of Fourier series, which eventually developed into Fourier analysis and harmonic analysis, and their applications to problems of heat transfer and vibrations. The Fourier transform and Fourier's law of conduction are also named in his honour. Fourier is also generally credited with the discovery of the greenhouse effect. March 21, 1768 – May 16, 1830; died at 62. Alive at the same time as Karl Marx, Abraham Lincoln, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Napoleon. Wiki link