Pierre-Simon Laplace
Early Life
Pierre-Simon Laplace was born on 23 March 1749 in Beaumont-en-Auge, a small village in Normandy, France. His father, Pierre de Laplace, was a prosperous farmer, and his mother, Marie-Anne Sochon, was from a family of lesser nobility. Despite his humble origins, Laplace showed an early aptitude for mathematics and was sent to the University of Caen to study theology.
Education
In 1766, Laplace left the University of Caen without completing his degree and moved to Paris, where he found work as a mathematics tutor. He soon attracted the attention of Jean le Rond d'Alembert, one of the leading mathematicians of the time, who took Laplace under his wing and helped him secure a position at the École Militaire as a professor of mathematics in 1769.
Career and Contributions to Mathematics
Laplace made significant contributions to many areas of mathematics, including probability theory, statistics, and celestial mechanics. His most famous work, "Mécanique Céleste" (Celestial Mechanics), published between 1799 and 1825, is a five-volume treatise that applies Newtonian gravitation to the entire solar system. In this work, Laplace developed the Laplace's equation, a second-order partial differential equation that is widely used in many fields of science and engineering.
In the field of probability theory, Laplace developed the Bayesian inference, a method of statistical inference that updates the probability for a hypothesis as more evidence or information becomes available. This method is named after Thomas Bayes, who provided the first mathematical treatment of a non-trivial problem of Bayesian inference.
Laplace also made significant contributions to the theory of determinants and the solutions of systems of linear equations. His work on the Laplace transform is used in many branches of engineering, such as electrical, mechanical, and control engineering.
Later Life and Death
In his later years, Laplace turned his attention to the field of physics and made significant contributions to the theory of sound and heat. He was also involved in the establishment of the metric system in France.
Laplace died on 5 March 1827 in Paris, leaving behind a legacy of significant contributions to mathematics and science. His remains are interred at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
Legacy
Laplace's work has had a profound impact on a wide range of scientific and mathematical disciplines. His equations and mathematical techniques are still widely used in physics, engineering, statistics, and economics. His work in celestial mechanics laid the groundwork for the development of the field of dynamical systems.
Laplace is also remembered for his philosophical views on determinism and his belief in the existence of a "Laplace's Demon", a hypothetical being that could predict the future of the universe based on the laws of classical mechanics.