Pierre-Simon Laplace

Pierre-Simon Laplace was a French mathematician and astronomer whose work was pivotal in mathematical astronomy and statistics. He summarized and extended the work of his predecessors in his seminal volumes on Celestial Mechanics, which translated the geometric study of classical mechanics into one based on calculus. In statistics, he primarily developed the Bayesian interpretation of probability, viewing it as an instrument for repairing defects in knowledge. Laplace formulated key equations and pioneered transforms that are fundamental to mathematical physics, and he is remembered as one of history's greatest scientific minds.