Hi,

Fourier, that great French mathematician/philosopher wuz right! I think he
missed Madame guillotine.

Yes, he died in Paris in 1830. He was an active revolutionary but fell foul
of the powers that be and was imprisoned for a short time. Fortunately for him
they topped Robespierre first and he was released when the politics changed as
a result. As he wasn't into electric phenomena, he wouldn't have realised the
uses that the offshoot of his theory on the conduction of heat in solids (
Fourier Series) would be put to in later years. So the next time you burn
yourself, while holding a piece of wire you're in the act of soldering, you
will know who to blame.


Cheers - Joe