Trinity College Dublin

Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749-1827)

A French physicist and mathematician, Laplace put the final capstone on mathematical astronomy by summarising and extending the work of his predecessors in his five volume Celestial Mechanics (1799-1825). This work was important because it translated the geometrical study of mechanics used by Newton to one based on calculus. In Mécanique Céleste, Laplace proved the dynamical stability of the solar system (with tidal friction ignored) on short time scales. On long time scales, however, this assertion was proven false in the early 1990s.