LAPLACE, Essai philosophique sur les probabilités, 1814

LAPLACE, Pierre-Simon.

Essai philosophique sur les probabilités.

Paris, Vve Courcier, 1814.

4to (244x184 mm), (4)-96-(1) pages. binding : Contemporary full sheep, gilt flat spines. Rubbed binding, damaged caps. First and last pages foxed.

First edition.
A second edition of this essay will appear in octavo format, the same year, with a different collation (190 pages instead of 96).
A major work by Pierre-Simon Laplace, a French mathematician and astronomer, presenting an accessible popularization of his theory of probability.
There he presented for the first time the thought experiment that would later be known as Laplace's Demon. Mechanistic vision of the world which will only be called into question with Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.

references: DSB [XV, 274 : "The Essai philosophique sur les probabilités, published in 1814 as an introduction to the second edition of Théorie analytique and printed separately earlier in the same year, originated in a course of lectures at the Ecole Normale in 1795. "].

provenance: Bookplate Armand Mieulet de Lombrail (1828-1904), a student at the Polytechnique in the class of 1849-1851, he then became a naval officer and then attached to the Ministry of Finance. Very cultured, extensive library. He became friends with Auguste Comte.

Price : 1200 €

<< Back

Add to Cart >