10 Mag Pierre-Simon de Laplace
Data di morte: 5 Marzo 1827
In: Parigi, Francia
Storia:
He was a French scholar whose work was important to the development of engineering, mathematics, statistics, physics, astronomy, and philosophy.
He summarized and extended the work of his predecessors in his five-volume Mécanique Céleste (Celestial Mechanics) (1799–1825).
This work translated the geometric study of classical mechanics to one based on calculus, opening up a broader range of problems.
In statistics, the Bayesian interpretation of probability was developed mainly by Laplace.
Laplace formulated Laplace's equation, and pioneered the Laplace transform which appears in many branches of mathematical physics, a field that he took a leading role in forming.
The Laplacian differential operator, widely used in mathematics, is also named after him.
He restated and developed the nebular hypothesis of the origin of the Solar System and was one of the first scientists to postulate the existence of black holes and the notion of gravitational collapse.