1805: Fourier

Fourier did important mathematical work on the theory of heat, his important memoir was called

On the Propagation of Heat in Solid Bodies.

This memoir is very highly regarded but at the time it caused controversy. An objection was to Fourier's expansions of functions as trigonometrical series, what we now call Fourier series.

His paper took 15 years to publish.

What has this to do with primes?

The relation to primes and the prime counting function will be in trying to express the prime counting function as harmonics governed by the zeros of the Riemann Zeta Function.

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