Pierre-Simon Laplace was among the most influential scientists in history. Often referred to as the lawgiver of French science, he is known for his technical contributions to exact science, for the philosophical point of view he developed in the presentation of his work, and for the leading part he took in forming the modern discipline of mathematical physics. His two most famous treatises were the five-volume Traite de mecanique celeste (1799-1825) and Theorie analytique des probabilites (1812). In the former, he demonstrated mathematically the stability of the solar system in accordance with the universal Newtonian law of gravity. In the latter, he developed probability from a set of miscellaneous problems concerning games, averages, mortality, and insurance risks. These estimates of error and statistical inferences could be applied to social, medical, and legal matters, as well as to the physical sciences. This book traces the development of Laplace's research program and of his participation in the Academy of Science during the last decades of the Old Regime into the early years of the French Revolution.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Gillispie's distinguished biography is a magisterial survey of one of the most influential scientists of the past two centuries. It is also a history of science at its most challenging." -- William R. Shea, Nature
"This book provides a scholarly and human view of the scientific life of Laplace, seen through the intellectual, political, and social environment of his time." -- Lorenzo J. Curtis, Naturvetenskap
"This is a rich and extremely well documented presentation of Laplace's works, which will surely prompt many scientists to go back to the original texts themselves and find out more about this great French scientist." -- Jean-Bernard Robert, Physics World
This book provides a scholarly and human view of the scientific life of Laplace, seen through the intellectual, political, and social environment of his time. -- Review
"This book provides a scholarly and human view of the scientific life of Laplace, seen through the intellectual, political, and social environment of his time." -- Lorenzo J. Curtis, Naturvetenskap
"This is a rich and extremely well documented presentation of Laplace's works, which will surely prompt many scientists to go back to the original texts themselves and find out more about this great French scientist." -- Jean-Bernard Robert, Physics World
This book provides a scholarly and human view of the scientific life of Laplace, seen through the intellectual, political, and social environment of his time. -- Review
About the Author
Charles Coulston Gillispie is Dayton-Stockton Professor of History Emeritus at Princeton University, where he founded the Program in History of Science in 1960. He is the author or numerous books, including The Edge of Objectivity (Princeton). He is the editor of the sixteen-volume Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Robert Fox is Professor of History of Science at the University of Oxford. Ivor Grattan-Guinness is Professor of the History of Mathmatics and Logic at Middlesex Polytechnic University in London.
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First Sentence:
GENEALOGICAL RECORDS of the Laplace family in lower Normandy go back to the middle of the seventeenth century. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
les équations séculaires, figure elliptique des planètes, sur les inégalités séculaires, consecutive high tides, théorie des hasards, mémoire sur les approximations, formules qui sont fonctions, dual memoir, secular inequalities, des fluides élastiques, analytique des probabilités, periodic inequality, précession des équinoxes, sur les probabilités, aux différences finies, mécanique céleste, probabilistic mean, sidereal motion, aux probabilités, see the marginal note, les intégrales définies, further memoir, ellipsoidal figure, cometary orbits, des longitudes Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Academy of Science, Daniel Bernoulli, École Normale, Bureau des Longitudes, First Class of the Institute, Stephen Stigler, Procès-Verbaux du Comité, Cape of Good Hope, Old Regime, Paris Observatory New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
GENEALOGICAL RECORDS of the Laplace family in lower Normandy go back to the middle of the seventeenth century. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
les équations séculaires, figure elliptique des planètes, sur les inégalités séculaires, consecutive high tides, théorie des hasards, mémoire sur les approximations, formules qui sont fonctions, dual memoir, secular inequalities, des fluides élastiques, analytique des probabilités, periodic inequality, précession des équinoxes, sur les probabilités, aux différences finies, mécanique céleste, probabilistic mean, sidereal motion, aux probabilités, see the marginal note, les intégrales définies, further memoir, ellipsoidal figure, cometary orbits, des longitudes Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Academy of Science, Daniel Bernoulli, École Normale, Bureau des Longitudes, First Class of the Institute, Stephen Stigler, Procès-Verbaux du Comité, Cape of Good Hope, Old Regime, Paris Observatory New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 21
books:
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- Celestial Mechanics (5-Volume Set in English & French) by Pierre Simon Laplace in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Sophie Germain: An Essay in the History of the Theory of Elasticity (Studies in the History of Modern Science) by L.L. Bucciarelli on page 215, and Back Matter
- Dictionary of Scientific Biography. by Charles Coulston Gillispie in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Saturn and Uranus (World Book's Solar System & Space Exploration Library) on page 191, and page 193
- Planetary Astronomy from the Renaissance to the Rise of Astrophysics, Part A, Tycho Brahe to Newton (General History of Astronomy) by R. Taton in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
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