Joseph Fourier was born March 21, 1768, in Auxerre,France and died on May 16, 1830. A brilliant mathematician, he developed the partial differential equations governing the steady-state and time-dependant propagations of heat in solid bodies. He solved these equations with an infinite series of trigonometric equations, now known as a Fourier Series. His analytical methods for solving heat transfer problems departed from others of the time by distinguishing between interior and surface conditions, treating each separately. He was awarded the Grand Prize in Mathematics from the Institut de France in 1810 for his work.