Jacob Bernoulli, also known as James or Jacques Bernoulli, was a Swiss mathematician born in the middle of seventeen century in Basel, Switzerland. Although he studied theology and philosophy at university level he was more interested in mathematics and astronomy, which he studied side by side. However, it was only after he received his licentiate in theology that he could concentrate on his favorite subjects. For six or seven years he travelled throughout Europe studying under different scholars, after which he returned to Basel to take up a teaching post at his alma mater. However, he kept in touch with the academics he met during his travel throughout his life. Along with teaching, he started working on various mathematical problems, especially differential calculus as presented by Leibniz. Later, he made significant contribution to the study of calculus and is often referred to as one of the founders of the calculus of variations. Scholars also give equal importance to his works in the field of probability and his derivation of the law of large numbers. He lived for only fifty years, yet he left a huge body of work for posterity.
