Born in the 18th century, Joseph Fourier was a French mathematician and physicist who is best remembered for his work on the flow of heat which later became the basis for the “Fourier series”. He came from humble beginnings, orphaned at 10 and in the military by age 12. It was in the military that he became obsessed with mathematics. He became a teacher, French revolutionary, Egyptologist, Professor and Secretary of the Acadamie des Sciences.