Pierre Simon Laplace : French Mathematician, physicist, and Astronomer

• Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace was a French Scholar and Mathematician who was born in Beaumont-en-Auge, Normandy, the Kingdom of France on 23 March 1749. Apart from Mathematics and Statistics, He has contributed to philosophy, engineering, physics, and astronomy. 
• In 1806, Laplace became a member of the Empire.
• Laplace derived Laplace’s equation and explored the Laplace transform which comes in many branches of scientific physics and mathematics.
• The Laplacian differential operator, which is extensively used in mathematics, is found by him and so it is named after him. He improved the nebular hypothesis and the theories and concepts of the origin of the Solar System. He was one of the first scientists to propose the notion of gravitational collapse and the existence of black holes.
• People call him as Newton of France or French Newton.

•  In 1771, Laplace’s published many works of Physics and Mathematics. He started working on finite differences and differential equations. He was also researching on the concepts of probability and statistics. 
• In 1773, he wrote two papers, which got published in the later years. The first, Mémoire sur la probabilité des causes par les événements was ultimately published in 1774 and the second paper, published in 1776.
• In 1784–1787 he published some memoirs. Notable among these are Théorie du Mouvement et de la figure elliptique des planètes in which was printed in 1784, and in the third volume of the Mécanique céleste.
• In these books, he has mentioned how spheroid gets attracted to on a particle outside it. This gave rise to a new concept called  Laplace’s coefficients or the analysis of spherical harmonics. 
• The common concepts that we use in celestial mechanics in today’s world called gravitational potential were raised because of him.
• On 5 March 1827, Laplace died in Paris. His physician, François Magendie, removed his brain after his death and kept it safe for many years, and displayed his brain in a roving anatomical museum in Britain. As compared to the average brain of humans, his brain is much smaller. He was buried at Père Lachaise.

Pierre Simon Laplace Books

Here is the list of few books written by Pierre Simon Laplace

1. A philosophical essay on probabilities
2. Theorie Analytique Des Probabilities
3. Exposition du système du monde
4. The Mechanics of Laplace
5. Elementary illustrations of the celestial mechanics
6. The System of the World. Translated from the French, and Elucidated, with Explanatory Notes; Volume 1 
7. A Treatise of Celestial Mechanics
8. The System of the World, Volume 2 
9. The System of the World. 
10. Methods of Computing the Orbit of a Comet Or Planet: Appendix to the Third Volume of the Translation of the Méchanique Céleste
11. Mécanique Céleste: 1st Book. on the General Laws of Equilibrium and Motion. 2D Book. on the Law of Universal Gravitation, and the Motions of the Centres of Gravity of the Heavenly Bodies 
12. Memoir on Heat
13. Mécanique Céleste 
14. Traité de mécanique céleste
15. Celestial Mechanics Volume III 
16. A Treatise of Celestial Mechanics – Scholar’s Choice Edition 
17. Mécanique Céleste: 1st Book. on the General Laws of Equilibrium and Motion. 2D Book. on the Law of Universal Gravitation, and the Motions
18. Mécanique Céleste, Vol. IV 

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Contributions of Pierre Simon Laplace in Mathematics

Few of the most notable contribution of Pierre Laplace is:

1. Laplace formed Laplace’s equation.
2. He Proved that there should be at least one real quadratic factor for every equation of an odd degree.
3. He has introduced the Laplace’s method.
4. For the second-order linear partial differential equation, he provided the solution.
5. He solved and gave the solution of many difficult problems of the continued fraction.
6. He proved the Lagrange reversion theorem.
7. He compiled and extended the work of his antecedents in his five-volume Mécanique Céleste. 
8. In statistics, Laplace developed the Bayesian interpretation of probability.

Awards and Rewards under the name of Simon Laplace

Honors Pierre , for his great mathematical works

In 1806, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences elected Simon Laplace as a foreign member.

Other Mathematicians like PierreLaplace

Few Mathematicians like from India like Shakuntala Devi, Ramanujan, Aryabhata were also Mathematicians and Scholars. Just like Pierre they have written a lot of books on Mathematics which has inspired many other mathematicians to do the further research in mathematics.

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Famous Quotations by Pierre Simon Laplace

Probability theory is nothing but common sense reduced to calculation.

Pierre

The most important questions of life are indeed, for the most part really only problems of probability. 

Pierre

FAQ About Pierre Laplace

What did Pierre Laplace discover?

He has made significant contributions in the field of terrestrial motion by using Sir Isaac Newton’s theory of gravitation to the entire solar system.

What is Pierre Laplace famous for?

He is famous for investigations about the stability of the solar system.

Where did Pierre Simon Laplace go to school?

He studied in the Caen-Normandy University.

When did Pierre Simon Laplace die?

5 March 1827, Pierre died in Beaumont-en-Auge, France.

Where does the Laplace transform come from?

The Laplace transform is made by Pierre-Simon Laplace in his work on probability theory.