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 200 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



three valuable papers to the Memoirs, chiefly on Astronomy and the 

 Physics of the Globe. Having succeeded John Quincy Adams as 

 President of the Academy in 1829, he died in office, in 1838. An 

 elaborate eulogy was pronounced before the Academy, May 29, 1838, 

 by Mr. John Pickering, the Corresponding Secretary. 



After the death of Laplace, his widow recognized the value of 

 Rowditch's labors, in extending the usefulness and enlarging the fame 

 of her husband's greatest work, by presenting to his translator and 

 commentator his marble bust. In the fourth volume of the last edi- 

 tion of Laplace's work, fifty-two corrections are specified as having 

 been made by Dr. Bowditch. 



Dr. Bowditch's strength held out until he had corrected the proof- 

 sheet of the thousandth page of the fourth volume of his translation. 

 That was the last page his eye was to rest on. Eighteen more pa^es 

 remained. The incident has its parallel in the death of Copernicus. 

 He had spent twenty-three years in writing his book De Orbium 

 Ccelestium Revolutionibus, but delayed its publication for fear of a 

 popular outcry against his scientific doctrines. The book had been 

 printed at Nuremberg under the care of his disciple, Rheticus. A 

 few hours before he died, a copy arrived which was placed in his 

 hands. He touched it, and seemed to recognize it, and then relapsed 

 into unconsciousness. 



No less suggestive was the death-bed of Lagrange. Though of 

 French extraction, he was born in Turin in 1736. His father lost 

 his property in speculation, — an event which the son did not regret. 

 " Had 1 been rich," he said, " I might never have known mathemat- 

 ics." At the age of twenty-six, Lagrange had reached the summit of 

 fame, though at the sacrifice of his health. In 1766, he was brought 

 to Berlin by Frederick the Great, " the greatest king in Europe 

 wishing to have the greatest mathematician at his court." After- 

 wards, various other courts competed for him. In 1787, he selected 

 Paris. He was patronized by Marie Antoinette, and lodged in the 

 Louvre. In the Revolution, when other scientific men were victims, 

 his name commanded respect. In reply to a petition in favor of 

 Lavoisier it was said, " The republic has no need of savants." Bona- 

 parte called Lagrange " La haute pyramide des sciences mathema- 

 tiques," and loaded him with offices and distinction. The first edition 

 of his Mecanique Analytique appeared in 178S. In 1811, he pub- 

 lished the first volume of another edition. The second volume, which 

 was on Dynamics, required more serious changes, and its preparation 

 was too much for his failing strength. On April 8, he had a conver- 



