Jacob Bernoulli was born on December 27, 1654 to Niklaus and Margarethe Bernoulli, in Basel, Switzerland. He initially respected his father's wishes and studied theology, eventually joining the ministry, but also chose to study mathematics and astronomy on the side. From the age of 22 to 28, he traveled throughout Europe, familiarizing himself with the most recent advances in mathematics and the natural sciences, including the recent discoveries of Boyle and Hooke. It was through extended communication with Gottfried Leibnitz that Bernoulli was exposed to calculus. On his return from a trip to Basel in 1682, he founded a school of mathematics and science and married Judith Stupanus two years later. He became professor of mathematics at the University of Basel in 1687, a position he retained for the rest of his life, and also began giving calculus lessons to his brother. At the time, Leibnitz's work was not well known among mathematicians, and the Bernoullis were among the first to attempt to understand and apply Leibnitz's discoveries. Bernoulli developed the technique...