Pierre-Simon Laplace, 1749-1827: A Life in Exact SciencePrinceton University Press, 2000 M02 27 - 322 pages 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 Traité de mécanique céleste (1799-1825) and Théorie analytique des probabilités (1812). In the former he demonstrated mathematically the stability of the solar system in service to 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 into the branch of mathematics that permitted the quantification of estimates of error and the drawing of statistical inferences, wherever data warranted, in social, medical, and juridical matters, as well as in the physical sciences. |
Contents
Youth Education and Election to the Academy | 3 |
Universal Gravitation | 29 |
Distribution of Comets | 38 |
Partial Differential Equations Determinants | 44 |
The Figure of the Earth and the Motion of the Seas | 51 |
Influence and Reputation | 67 |
Generating Functions and Definite Integrals | 86 |
Population | 93 |
LAPLACIAN PHYSICS AND PROBABILITY | 197 |
The Velocity of Sound Robert Fox | 199 |
ShortRange Forces Robert Fox | 203 |
The Laplacian School Robert Fox | 209 |
Theory of Error | 216 |
Théorie analytique and Essai philosophique | 224 |
Loss of Influence Robert Fox | 243 |
The Last Analysis | 250 |
Chemical Physics of Heat | 101 |
Attraction of Spheroids | 109 |
Planetary Astronomy | 124 |
The Revolution and the Metric System | 149 |
Scientific Work in the Early Revolution | 156 |
Exposition du système du monde | 166 |
A Scientific Eminence | 176 |
Traité de mécanique céleste | 184 |
Other editions - View all
Pierre-Simon Laplace, 1749-1827: A Life in Exact Science Charles Coulston Gillispie Limited preview - 2018 |
Pierre-Simon Laplace, 1749-1827: A Life in Exact Science Charles Coulston Gillispie,Robert Fox,I. Grattan-Guinness No preview available - 1997 |