Overview

Swiss mathematician and physicist Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1782) brought a high level of mathematical rigor to the study of natural phenomena, particularly phenomena associated with liquids and gases. He was especially fascinated with the behavior of fluids. Having been trained as a physician, Bernoulli combined his medical knowledge with his mathematical and analytical skills to study the speed with which a liquid flows through an enclosed space such as a blood vessel. Bernoulli's observations resulted in the first effective method of measuring blood pressure but, more importantly, put Bernoulli on the path that would lead to his derivation of the fluid equation. That equation showed that a fluid's pressure is determined by its velocity, the pressure decreasing as the velocity increases. Bernoulli's formulation related pressure to the law of conservation of energy, placing the behavior of...