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. |
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... variable in recurrent series and in more than one variable in recurro - recurrent series ; application of these techniques to theory of games of chance ; singular solutions for differential equations ; and problems of mathematical ...
... variable was concealed that should have appeared in the function representing the curve to be optimized . When it was identified , the equations became determinate . If the solutions yielded maximum values , the equations involved ...
... variable , z ; multiplying both sides of the equation by zdt ; supposing integration of the resulting adjoint equation accomplished ; and examin- ing the steps needed to reduce the order one degree at a time until a solvable form should ...
... variable index , the definition being that " every term is equal to any number of preceding terms , each multiplied by a function of x taken at will . It had been while investigating certain 3 [ 1771b ] , p . 299 . 4 Ibid . , p . 330 ...
... variable indices . In such series as Equation ( 4 ) , if & is a function of x and n rather than of x alone , and if the integers 1 , 2 , 3 , ... , are substituted for x and n , then for each value of n , a series results in which " y ...
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 |