Pierre-Simon Laplace, 1749-1827: A Life in Exact Science

by Charles Coulston Gillispie

Overview

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.


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. A scientific biography by Charles Gillispie comprises the major portion of the book. Robert Fox contributes an account of Laplace's attempt to form a school of young physicists who would extend the Newtonian model from astronomy to physics, and Ivor Grattan-Guinness summarizes the history of the scientist's most important single mathematical contribution, the Laplace Transform.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691050270
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	02/27/2000
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	7.75(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

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.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Pt. I	Early Career, 1768-1778
Ch. 1	Youth, Education, and Election to the Academy	3
Ch. 2	Finite Differences, Recurrent Series, and Theory of Chance	7
Ch. 3	Probability of Events and of Their Causes: The Origin of Statistical Inference	13
Ch. 4	Universal Gravitation	29
Ch. 5	Distribution of Comets	38
Ch. 6	Partial Differential Equations, Determinants, and Variation of Constants	44
Ch. 7	The Figure of the Earth and the Motion of the Seas	51
Pt. II	Laplace in his Prime, 1778-1789
Ch. 8	Influence and Reputation	67
Ch. 9	Variation of Constants, Differential Operators	70
Ch. 10	Probability Matured	72
Ch. 11	Generating Functions and Definite Integrals	86
Ch. 12	Population	93
Ch. 13	Determination of the Orbits of Comets	96
Ch. 14	Lavoisier and Laplace: Chemical Physics of Heat	101
Ch. 15	Attraction of Spheroids	109
Ch. 16	Planetary Astronomy	124
Pt. III	Synthesis and Scientific Statesmanship
Ch. 17	The Revolution and the Metric System	149
Ch. 18	Scientific Work in the Early Revolution	156
Ch. 19	Exposition du systeme du monde	166
Ch. 20	A Scientific Eminence	176
Ch. 21	Traite de mecanique celeste	184
Pt. IV	Laplacian Physics and Probability
Ch. 22	The Velocity of Sound	199
Ch. 23	Short-Range Forces	203
Ch. 24	The Laplacian School	209
Ch. 25	Theory of Error	216
Ch. 26	Probability: Theorie analytique and Essai philosophique	224
Ch. 27	Loss of Influence	243
Ch. 28	The Last Analysis	250
Pt. V	The Laplace Transform
Ch. 29	Laplace's Integral Solutions to Partial Differential Equations	259
Conclusion	271
Abbreviations	280
Bibliography	281
Index	319

Editorial Reviews

"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 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 will decidedly be the definitive one-volume work on Laplace, and will be of particular value to mathematicians and physicists who wish to know the mathematical details of the origins of a number of significant parts of their subjects."—-R. L. Cooke, Mathematical Reviews

"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

From the Publisher

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.

Naturvetenskap - Lorenzo J. Curtis

This book will decidedly be the definitive one-volume work on Laplace, and will be of particular value to mathematicians and physicists who wish to know the mathematical details of the origins of a number of significant parts of their subjects.

Mathematical Reviews - R. L. Cooke

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.

Physics World - Jean-Bernard Robert

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.

Nature - William R. Shea

This book will decidedly be the definitive one-volume work on Laplace, and will be of particular value to mathematicians and physicists who wish to know the mathematical details of the origins of a number of significant parts of their subjects.

Mathematical Reviews - R.L. Cooke

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 book will decidedly be the definitive one-volume work on Laplace, and will be of particular value to mathematicians and physicists who wish to know the mathematical details of the origins of a number of significant parts of their subjects.
— R. L. Cooke

Mathematical Reviews

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

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