“Biot, who assisted Laplace in revising it [The Mécanique Céleste] for the press, says that Laplace himself was frequently unable to recover the details in the chain of reasoning, and if satisfied that the conclusions were correct, he was content to insert the constantly recurring formula, 'Il est àisé avoir' [it is easy to see].” ReasonScienceMathFormulaLaplacePierre Simon LaplaceBiotJean Baptiste Biot Book:A Short Account of the History of Mathematics Source: A Short Account of the History of Mathematics
“The great masters of modern analysis are Lagrange, Laplace, and Gauss, who were contemporaries. It is interesting to note the marked contrast in their styles. Lagrange is perfect both in form and matter, he is careful to explain his procedure, and though his arguments are general they are easy to follow. Laplace on the other hand explains nothing, is indifferent to style, and, if satisfied that his results are correct, is content to leave them either with no proof or with a faulty one. Gauss is as exact and elegant as Lagrange, but even more difficult to follow than Laplace, for he removes every trace of the analysis by which he reached his results, and studies to give a proof which while rigorous shall be as concise and synthetical as possible.” ScienceInterestingStyleMastersArgumentPerfectionDifficultyPraiseProofEleganceScientistsLaplaceLagrangeGaussJoseph Louis LagrangePierre Simon LaplaceCarl Friedrich GaussModern Analysis Book:A Short Account of the History of Mathematics Source: A Short Account of the History of Mathematics
“Foreshadowings of the principles and even of the language of [the infinitesimal] calculus can be found in the writings of Napier, Kepler, Cavalieri, Fermat, Wallis, and Barrow. It was Newton's good luck to come at a time when everything was ripe for the discovery, and his ability enabled him to construct almost at once a complete calculus.” ScienceHistoryDiscoveryMathematicsNewtonCalculusScientistsKeplerIsaac NewtonJohannes KeplerFermatInfinitesimalPierre De FermatBarrowCavalieriNapierWallis Book:A Short Account of the History of Mathematics Source: A Short Account of the History of Mathematics