Laplace, Pierre Simon, marquis de, Astronomy, Biographies

Related Category: Astronomy, Biographies

Laplace, Pierre Simon, marquis de[pyer sEmON´ mArkE´ du lAplAs´] Pronunciation Key, 1749–1827, French astronomer and mathematician. At 18 he went to Paris, proved his gift for mathematical analysis to Jean le Rond d'Alembert, and was made professor of mathematics in the Ecole militaire of Paris. He had a seat in the senate (1799) and became its vice president and (1803) chancellor. He was elected to the French Academy in 1816. He investigated the variations of the moon's motions, especially as affected by the eccentricity of the earth's orbit; the inequalities in the motions of Jupiter and Saturn; the motion of the satellites of Jupiter; the aberration in the movements of comets; and the theory of the tides. With J. L. Lagrange he established beyond a doubt Newton's theory of gravitation. The results of his researches were published in his famous MEcanique cEleste (1799–1825, tr. by Nathaniel Bowditch, 1829–39). In the more popular work, Exposition du systEme du monde (1796), a summary of the history of astronomy is included. This work contains also a statement of the nebular hypothesis of the origin of the solar system. His ThEorie des attractions des sphEroides et de la figure des planEtes (1785) introduced "Laplace's coefficients" and the potential function, two means of applying analysis to physical problems. The ThEorie analytique des probabilitEs (1812), a mathematical classic, was followed by Essai philosophique sur les probabilitEs (1814).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2009, Columbia University Press.
Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

---

---