Full Name: Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier

Lived Between: 1768-1830

Nationality: French

Primary Occupation: Physicist

Claim to Fame: While trying to find a way to analyze heat waves, Joseph Fourier deducted that since the sine wave was the most fundamental of sound waves, all other waveforms could be broken down into, or created by the addition of sine waves. Using calculus, Fourier developed a formula to prove his theory, which is now known as the Fourier Series/Transforms.

Recommended Book: Fourier Transforms: An Introduction for Engineers (Kluwer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science, 322) -- Robert M. Gray, Joseph W. Goodman;

Recommended Link: http://www.shsu.edu/~icc_cmf/bio/fourier.html