Johann Bernoulli Jeopardy

Early Life

100

Where was Johann Bernoulli born?

Basel, Switzerland

200

In what year was Bernoulli born?

1667

300

True or False? Johann Bernoulli's parents were University professors.

False. His family owned a spice business.

400

Johann Bernoulli was one of ______ children in his family. A. 2 B. 10 C. 7 D. 9

B. 10 Johann was the tenth child of Nicolaus and Margaretha Bernoulli

500

True or False? As a child Johann was raised in a strong Catholic family and was sent to a Catholic school as a child.

False. Johann was raised in the Calvinist Faith. His family's Calvinist Faith was what had caused Johann's grandparents to flee from Antwerp to Switzerland to avoid religious persecution.

Education

100

Where did Johann Bernoulli go to school?

University of Basel in Switzerland

200

True or False? Bernoulli went to school to study mathematics?

False. He went to school to study Medicine.

300

True or False? Johann struggled to receive a proper education as a child.

False. Johann wrote that his parents "spared no trouble or expense to give me a proper education in both morals and religion."

400

Johann Bernoulli practiced medicine after he finished school. A. True B. False

False. Johann studied medicine but there is no indication that he actually practiced medicine at any time.

500

True or False? Johann's Doctoral Dissertation had no connection to mathematics.

False. Johann's Dissertation was on Muscular Contractions which is a application of mathematics to the medical field.

Controversy

100

True or False? Johann was accused of stealing a proof from his brother Jakob and presenting it as his own.

True.

200

True or False? Johann's mathematical rivalry with his brother, Jacob, was a friendly scholarly rivalry.

False. The two were very jealous of each others accomplishments and the rivalry became openly hostile.

300

True or False? In the Newton vs. Leibnitz debate Johann supported Leibnitz.

True. Johann supported Leibnitz with a "near-fanatical zeal" and was referred to at the time as "Leibnitz's Bulldog".

400

True or False? Johann's greatest contribution to calculus is named for someone else.

True. L’Hopital’s Rule while published by Marquis Guillame Francois L’Hopital was based on the discoveries of Johann Bernoulli. Johann had been corresponding with L'Hopital teaching him calculus and sharing his discoveries with him.

500

True or False? The first textbook on differential calculus was published and based off of the work of Johann Bernoulli.

False. While the information within "Analyse des infiniment petits pour l’intelligence des lignes courbes" (Analysis of infinitely small quantities for the understanding of curves) was based off of the tutorings and correspondences of Bernoulli it was in fact published by L'Hopital with only a brief mention of Bernoulli in the preface which says: “And then I am obliged to the gentlemen Bernoulli for their many bright ideas; particularly to the younger Mr. Bernoulli who is now a professor in Groningen.”

Legacy

100

True or False? Johann's brother Jakob is credited as being the discoverer of calculus of variations.

False. Johann and Jakob are co-credited as being the founders of calculus of variations as a result of his work on the brachistochrone problem.

200

Bernoulli is known as the: A. "Aristotle of his age" B. "Hippocrates of his age" C. "Archimedes of his age" D. "Michael Jordan of his age"

C. "Archimedes of his age"

300

True or False? Johann Bernoulli proved Galileo wrong in his thought that the shape of a flexible cord hanging between two fixed points was a parabola.

True. Johann's brother Jakob spent a year trying to solve this problem. Johann made fun of his brother for this bragging that the problem that had taken a year of work from his brother cost him only a night’s sleep to solve.

400

Bernoulli was elected Fellow of Academics in: A. Paris B. Berlin C. St. Petersburg D. Bologna E. All the above

E. All the above

500

What is a catenary?

A catenary is the shape of a flexible cord hanging between two fixed points.

Family Life

100

True or False? Johann supported his son Daniel in his publishing of Hydrodynamica.

False. Johann actually published a book Hydraulica at about the same time that Daniel published Hydrodynamica claiming that the ideas were his. However Johann had actually stolen the idea from his son. Just as history later proved that L'Hopital's Rule was stolen from Johann history also later proved that Johann had stolen his son's work.

200

True or False? Johann's second son was born in 1697 and also grew up to be a mathematician.

False. His second son died six weeks after he was born in the Netherlands.

300

True or False? Johann's son's followed their grandfather's footsteps and entered the spice trade.

False. His sons Nicolaus, Daniel, and Johann all became mathematicians and held chairs at major European universities

400

True or False? Johann gained significant social status and honorary civic offices in Basel due to his marriage.

True. His father in law was an Alderman in Basel.

500

True or False? Johann's competitiveness and jealousy created a sort of rivalry between his son Daniel and himself.

True. When Daniel won a prize from the French Academy of Science that Johann had also been competing for, Johann threw him out of the family home. A man named Bell stated that: “The Bernoullis took their mathematics in deadly earnest. Some of their letters about mathematics bristle with strong language that is usually reserved for horse thieves.”