Pierre Simon Laplace, 1749-1827
Subtitle: A Determined Scientist
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: October 24, 2005
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 322
ISBN-13: 9780674018921
Subjects: Biography: general; History of mathematics; History of science; c 1700 to c 1800; c 1800 to c 1900; History; Biography / Autobiography; Biography & Autobiography; Scientists; Biography/Autobiography; France; Laplace, Pierre Simon,; Scientists - General; Biography & Autobiography / Science & Technology; marquis de,; 1749-1827; Biography; Mathematicians; Physicists
Description: "Often referred to as the Newton of France, Pierre Simon Laplace has been called the greatest scientist of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He affirmed the stability of the solar system and offered a powerful hypothesis about its origins. A skillful mathematician and popular philosopher, Laplace also did pioneering work on probability theory, in devising a method of inverse probabilities associated with his classic formulation of physical determinism in the universe. With Lavoisier and several younger disciples, he made decisive advances in chemistry and mathematical physics."

"Roger Hahn, who has devoted years to researching Laplace's life, has compiled a rich archive of his scientific correspondence. In this compact biography, also based in part on unpublished private papers, Hahn follows Laplace's journey from would-be priest in the provinces to Parisian academician, popularizer of science during the French Revolution, religious skeptic, and supporter of Napoleon. By the end of his life, Laplace had become a well-rewarded dean of French science." "In this first full-length biography, Hahn illuminates the man in his historical setting."--Jacket.