eo 
306 ; LAPLACE. 
the three great powers of the State might worthily close 
this series of biographical notices of eminent astrono- 
mers.* 
The Marquis de Laplace, peer of France, one of the 
forty of the French Academy, member of the Academy 
of Sciences and of the Bureau des Longitudes, an asso-. 
ciate of all the great Academies or Scientific Societies 
of Europe, was born at Beaumont-en-Auge of parents 
belonging to the class of small farmers, on the 28th of 
March, 1749 ; he died on the 5th of March, 1827. 
The first and second volumes of the Mécanique Céleste 
were published in 1799; the third volume appeared in 
1802, the fourth volume in 1805; as regards the fifth 
volume, Books XI. and XII. were published in 1823, 
Books XIII. XTV. and XV. in 1824, and Book XVI. 
in 1825. The Théorie des Probabilités was published in 
1812. We shall now present the reader with the his- 
tory of the principal astronomical discoveries contained 
in these immortal works. 
Astronomy is the science of which the human mind 
may most justly boast. It owes this indisputable pre- 
eminence to the elevated nature of its object, to the 
grandeur of its means of investigation, to the certainty, 
the utility, and the unparalleled magnificence of its 
results. 
From the earliest period of the social existence of 
mankind, the study of the movements of the heavenly 
bodies has attracted the attention of governments and 
peoples. To several great captains, illustrious states- 
men, philosophers, and eminent orators of Greece and 
Rome it formed a subject of delight. Yet, let us be per- 
mitted to state, astronomy truly worthy of the name is 
* The author here refers to the series of biographies contained in 
tome III. of the Notices Biographiques.— Translator. 
