CHAPTER XIII. 



CELESTIAL EVOLUTION. 



IN the second chapter we outlined the nebular 

 hypothesis as propounded by Herschel. Some 

 time earlier the French mathematician, Laplace, 

 had put forward his theory of the evolution of 

 the Solar System. Pierre Simon Laplace was 

 born at Beaumont- en -Auge, near Honfleur, in 

 1749, and was educated in the Military School 

 of his native town. In 1767 he became Assist- 

 ant Professor of Mathematics at Beaumont, 

 and some years later at the Military School 

 in Paris, which position he retained for many 

 years. Member of the Institute and Minister 

 of the Interior under Napoleon, he was created 

 a Marquis by Louis XVIII., and died at Arcuile 

 on March 5, 1827. 



In the last chapter of his popular work, the 

 ' Systeme du Monde/ Laplace put forward his 

 nebular theory "with that distrust which every- 

 thing ought to inspire that is not the result of 



