Pierre-Simon, Marquis de Laplace was a French scholar and polymath 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 (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.
Pierre-Simon Laplace as chancellor of the Senate under the First French Empire
Portrait of Pierre-Simon Laplace by Johann Ernst Heinsius (1775)
The Calorimeter of Lavoisier and La Place, Encyclopaedia Londinensis, 1801
A. Lunar gravitational potential: this depicts the Moon directly over 30° N (or 30° S) viewed from above the Northern Hemisphere.
A polymath is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems.
Benjamin Franklin is one of the foremost polymaths in history. Franklin was a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer and political philosopher. He further attained a legacy as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
The Developmental Model of Polymathy (DMP)
