

CONTENTS. XI 



PAGE 



Labours relative to the Solar System 289 



Optical Labours 301 



LAPLACE. 

 Preliminary Notice 303 



APPENDIX. 



(A.) Brief Notice of some other interesting Results 

 of the Researches of Laplace which have not 



been mentioned in the Text 368 



(B.) The Mecanique Celeste 372 



V 



1 JOSEPH FOURIER. 



Preliminary Notice 374 



Birth of Fourier. His Youth 377 







Memoir on the Resolution of Numerical Equations 380 



Part played by Fourier in our Revolution. His Entrance 

 into the Corps of Professors of the Normal School and 



the Polytechnic School. Expedition to Egypt 384 



Fourier Prefect of L'Isere 405 



Mathematical Theory of Heat 408 



Central Heat of the Terrestrial Globe 419 



Return of Napoleon from Elba. Fourier Prefect of the 

 Rhone. His Nomination to the Office of Director of 



the Board of Statistics of the Seine 430 



Entrance of Fourier into the Academy of Sciences. His 

 Election to the Office of Perpetual Secretary. His 



Admission to the French Academy 437 



Character of Fourier. His Death 438 



