Laplace, Pierre-Simon (1749-1827), French mathematician and astronomer

  • Laplace, Pierre Simon, marquis de, 1749-1827
Date:
1801-1818
Reference:
MS.8694
  • Archives and manuscripts

About this work

Description

5 autograph letters from Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749-1827), numbered 1-5. Correspondents include: Napoléon Bonaparte (1769-1821), First Consul of France (no.1); Maréchal Kellerman (1735-1820), one of Napoleon's marshals (no.2); François Arago (1786-1853), Director of the Observatory of Paris (no.5).

Publication/Creation

1801-1818

Physical description

1 file (5 items)

Contributors

Acquisition note

Purchased from: Stevens, London, March 1931 (acc.56482); Charavay, Paris, November 1932 (acc.65657); Desgranges, Paris, January 1933 (acc.66033); Desgranges, Paris, January 1934 (acc.66596); Desgranges, Paris, April 1934 (acc.67105).

Biographical note

Pierre-Simon Laplace was born on 23 March 1749, in Beaumont-en-Auge, Normandie, France. His parents wanted him to be a priest but he prefered to study mathematics. Jean Le Rond d'Alembert took him under his protection and recommanded him for a teaching place in the Ecole Militaire, where he could throw himself into original astronomic research. He entered the French Academy of Sciences in 1773. Close to Napoleon, he began a political career as the Minister of the Interior in 1799, but was soon removed from office and raised to the Senate (vice-president in 1803). With his friend Claude-Louis Berthollet, he founded in 1806 the informal scientific circle known as the Society of Arcueil. He died in Paris 5 March 1827. His work was pivotal to the development of mathematical astronomy and statistics, and he was one of the firsts to strongly believe in causal determinism.

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  • Various: see Acquisition note