55 5 
M A U P E 
MAlFNTRY, a town of Hindooftan, in Molntrbunge : 
twelve miles Couth of Harriorpour. 
M AV'ORS, a name of Mars. 
MAVOR'Tl A, an epithet applied to every country 
v\hofe inhabitants were warlike, but efpecially to Rome, 
founded by the reputed Con of Mavors, and to Thrace. 
£n. i. iii. 
MAUPERTUI'S (Peter-Louis Moreau de), a celebrated 
French mathematician and philofopher, was defcended 
from a noble family, and born at St. Malo in the year jfigS. 
He was privately .educated till he was fixteen years of age, 
when he was Cent to the college of La Marche, at Paris, 
where he was placed under the tuition of the celebrated 
profeffor of philofophy M. le Blond, and inltructed in 
mathematics by M. Guifnee, of the Academy of Sciences. 
Towards this fcience be foon difcovered a (trong inclina¬ 
tion, and particularly for geometry. At the fame time 
he had a taite for inftrumental mulic, which he praftifed 
with great fuccefs. He did not fix upon any profeflion 
till he"was twenty years old, when he determined on the 
military life, and entered among the moufquetaires. Af¬ 
ter remaining two years in that corps, he obtained a com¬ 
pany in a regiment of cavalry, which he held about three 
years, during which ali his leifure hours were feduloufly 
devoted to fcientific ftudies. At length his attachment 
to thefe purfuits induced him to quit the profeflion of 
arms, and to deliver himfelf up wholly to them ; and it 
was foon remarked by fome of the principal academicians, 
that nothing but mathematics could fatisfy his ardent and 
unbounded third for knowledge. In the year 1723, he 
was received into the Royal Academy of Sciences; on 
which occafion he read his firft performance, which was 
“ A Memoir upon the Conftrusflion and Form of Mufical 
Inftruments.” During the firlt years of his adtniflion, he 
alfo paid his attention to natural philofophy, and difco¬ 
vered great knowledge and dexterity in observations and 
experiments upon animals. About the year 1728, his paf- 
fionate defire of improvement induced him to vifit the 
country which had given birth to Newton, of whom he 
became a zealous admirer and follower5 and, during his 
refidence in London, he was honoured with an admillion 
into the Royal Society. After his return to France, he 
made an excurfion to Bafil, where he formed a friendlhip 
with the celebrated Bernouillis, who were then the orna¬ 
ment of Swilferland. Having once more come back to 
Paris, lie applied to his favourite ftudies with redoubled 
ardour; and how well be fulfilled the duties of an aca¬ 
demician, is fufficiently teftified by the Memoirs of the 
Academy from 1724 to 1744, which are enriched by avail 
number of his communications. In fome of them, the 
molt fublime and intricate queftions in the mathematical 
fciences are difcuffed with a very uncommon degree of 
elegance, clearnefs, and precifion. In 1736, when LouisXV. 
had determined to fend a number of French mathemati¬ 
cians into iJapland, for the purpofe of meafuring a degree 
of the meridian within the polar circle, in order to deter¬ 
mine the figure of the earth ; Maupertuis was placed at 
the head of that undertaking, and was rendered fo famous 
by its fuccefsful ifiTue, that he was admitted a member of 
almoll every academy in Europe. 
In the year 1740, Maupertuis received an invitation 
from the king of Pruflia to go to Berlin, to be prefident 
and director of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Belles 
Lettres in that place ; which was too beneficial and flat¬ 
tering to be declined. He accordingly went to Berlin ; 
and, as that monarch, was then at war with the emperor, 
our academician, whole love for his firft profeflion of arms 
was not wholly effaced, determined to follow the king to 
the field. He was prefent at the battle of Molwitz ; but-, 
before the day was gained by the Pruflians, his ungo¬ 
vernable horfe ran away with him into the enemy’s ranks, 
where he was taken prifbner, plundered, and at firll roughly 
ufed by the Auftrian huflars, Being carried to Vienna, 
be there met with the molt honourable reception from the 
emperor. That prince, upon inquiring into the civcum- 
R T U I S. 
fiances of his capture afrd fubfequent treatment, hearing 
him regret much the lofs of a watch by Graham, the cele¬ 
brated Englilh artifi, which was of great ul’e to him in 
making his agronomical obiervations, and happening to 
have another by the fame maker, but enriched with dia¬ 
monds, prefented it to him, faying, “The huflars were 
only in jell with you ; they have fent me your watch, and 
I return it to you.” In the courfe of a converfation with 
which he was honoured by the emprefs queen, her nia- 
jefty obferved to him, that fhe had been informed, that 
the princefs Louifa Ulrica of Pruflia, with whom lie was 
acquainted, and who was afterwards married to the prince- 
royal of Sweden, was the mofl beautiful princefs in the 
world. “Till this day, madam,” replied Maupertuis, 
“ I was entirely of that opinion.” Soon afterwards he 
had permiffion to depart for Berlin, loaded with favours 
by the emperor and emprefs queen. 
As the king of Pruflia had formed a defign of great al¬ 
terations and improvements in the Academy, which were 
not yet fufficiently matured to be carried -into execution, 
Maupertuis went to Paris, whither he was called by bufi- 
nels ; and in 1742 was chofen director of the Academy of 
Sciences. During the following year he was received into 
the French Academy ; and was the firft inftance of r. per- 
fon’s being member of both the academies 0* Paris at the 
fame time. After this, he again afiumed the character of 
a foldier at the fiege of Friburg ; and, upon the furrender 
of the citadel, was honoured by being appointed to carry 
the news of that event to the French king. His friends 
now hoped that he would fettle in his native country ; 
but his ardent imagination and lively curiolity would not 
fufFer him to be at relt; and in 1744 he returned to Berlin. 
Here the queen-mother found means to fix him, by mak¬ 
ing ufe of her good offices in negotiating and bringing 
about a marriage between him and a lady of great beauty 
and merit, nearly related to M.de Borck, at that time mi- 
nifter of (late. To this lady he was extremely attached, 
and confidered his alliance with her as the molt fortunate 
event of his life. In 1746, the king of Pruflia declared 
Maupertuis prefident of the Royal Academy of Sciences 
at Berlin ; and foon afterwards honoured him with the 
Order of Merit. He alfo admitted our philofopher to his 
molt intimate confidence. Thefe accumulated honours 
and advantages, lb far from diminiftiing his ardour for the 
fciences, feemed to operate as incentives to increafing la¬ 
bour and application ; and not a day pafted without his 
producing fome new project or eflay for the improvement 
of knowledge. Nor did he confine himfelf to mathema¬ 
tical ftudies only but nutaphyfics, chemiftry, botany, 
and polite literature, all ftiared his attention, and contri¬ 
buted to his fame.. 
In the midlt of his honours and advantages, however, 
Maupertuis was far from being a happy man, owing to 
his own reftl^flnefs of fpirit, and gloomy melancholy dif- 
pofition. Such a temperament, as might be expebled, in¬ 
volved him in feveral difputes and quarrels. One of thefe 
was with Koenig, profeffor of philofophy at Franeker, of 
the origin and refult of which we have given a short ac¬ 
count under that article, vol. xi. p. 849, 50. Another 
more violent quarrel took place between him and Voltaire, 
for which the preceding offered the immediate occalion. 
Maupertuis and Voltaire were apparently on the molt ami¬ 
cable terms ; and the latter profefled to refpefl the former 
as his mailer in the mathematics. Their talents, however, 
on which their refpedfive fame was built, being widely 
different, they became mutually jealous of each other. 
This jealoufy they could not conceal at the court of a 
prince, who found it impoffible fo to divide his favours 
between them as to fatisfy them both. The firft a£l of 
public hoftility was committed by Voltaire, who, notwith- 
ftanding the king’s wifh that he would preferve a ftriff 
neutrality, engaged againlt Maupertuis in his quarrel with 
Koenig. On this-occafion the poet exerted all liis wit 
and fatire to expofe the mathematician to ridicule ; and 
Jo highly, excited his reientineur, that, when Voltaire had 
, 3 » quitted 
