Pierre-Simon Laplace
1749–1827, Beaumont-en-Auge, France, Paris, France
Probability and statisticsArithmetic and number theoryDifferential equations and dynamical systems
French mathematician who transformed probability, celestial mechanics, and differential equations through analysis and mathematical physics.
Pierre-Simon Laplace unified large parts of celestial mechanics and probability. His five-volume Mécanique céleste translated Newtonian astronomy into analysis, while his Théorie analytique des probabilités developed Bayesian ideas, generating functions, and the central limit theorem. The Laplace equation, transform, and many results in probability and physics bear his name.
Workplaces: École Polytechnique
France