Siméon Denis Poisson

Entering the École Polytechnique in 1798, Poisson astounded his professors Laplace and Lagrange, who predicted his greatness. Succeeding Fourier at the Polytechnique, Poisson published over 300 major scientific memoirs across celestial mechanics, electrostatics, capillarity, and probability theory.

In his 1837 treatise Recherches sur la probabilité des jugements, he formulated the Poisson distribution modeling the occurrence of rare events in continuous intervals. In mechanics, he formulated Poisson's ratio (the transverse expansion/contraction ratio of loaded materials), famously stating: 'Life is good for only two things: doing mathematics and teaching it'.