Pierre-Simon Laplace, 1749-1827: A Life in Exact SciencePrinceton University Press, 2018 M06 5 - 336 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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 68
... Figure of the Earth and the Motion of the Seas 51 PART II : LAPLACE IN HIS PRIME , 1778-1789 Chapter 8. Influence and Reputation 67 Chapter 9. Variation of Constants , Differential Operators Chapter 10. Probability Matured 70 72 Chapter ...
... figures of the heavenly bodies , appeared from 1799 through 1805. The last parts of the fourth volume and the fifth volume , really a separate work that appeared in installments from 1823 to 1825 , contain impor- tant material ( on ...
... figure elliptique des planètes ( 1784 ) .2 Since Laplace was still only knocking at the door of the Academy in 1771 , he submitted " Recherches sur le calcul intégral aux différences infiniment petites , et aux différences finies " to ...
... FIGURE 1 the outset that the observations Laplace had in mind were astronomical , for the point to be fixed indicated the time at which the event occurred . Laplace now constructed a graph and a posterior distribution curve , HOL in Figure ...
... FIGURE 3 In speaking of the mean to be taken among several such observations , either of two things may be intended . One is the instant at which it is equally probable that the true time of the phenomenon occurs before or after it ...
Contents
LAPLACE IN HIS PRIME 17781789 | 65 |
SYNTHESIS AND SCIENTIFIC STATESMANSHIP | 147 |
LAPLACIAN PHYSICS AND PROBABILITY | 197 |
THE LAPLACE TRANSFORM | 257 |
Conclusion | 271 |
Abbreviations | 280 |
Bibliography | 281 |
Index | 319 |
Other editions - View all
Pierre-Simon Laplace, 1749-1827: A Life in Exact Science Charles Coulston Gillispie,Robert Fox,I. Grattan-Guinness No preview available - 1997 |