Joseph Boussinesq (1842--1929): a pioneer of mechanical modelling at the end of the 19th century (Q2478083)

The author discusses life and work of an important French mathematician, Joseph Boussinesq. Boussinesq successfully studied stresses in pulverulent masses. He tackled surface waves in canals and found the Boussinesq equation, closely related to the Korteweg-de Vries equation. He crucially contributed to the BBO-equation governing the motion of particles floating in the air. He worked on potential theory (the `Boussinesq Problem'), on turbulence (`Boussinesq's Hypothesis') and on the analytical theory of heat (the `Boussinesq Approximation').