Abstract
The Traité was an authoritative statement on celestial and planetary mechanics of its time, and also an important source on several new mathematical methods. The Exposition gave a non-technical account of the mechanics and related physics, and gained a wide readership over several editions. Laplace wished to derive celestial mechanics from the law of universal gravitation with Newton's inverse-square law of attraction. Laplace's molecular physics was not followed by more successful practitioners of mathematical physics: Fourier on heat diffusion from the late 1800s, and A.J. Fresnel in optics from the mid 1810s. However, Newton's laws and notions were not given the prominence that might be expected. Instead, Laplace exhibited the frequent continental preferences, especially in Lagrange's mechanics, for d’Alembert's principle and those of least action and virtual velocities. He chose “force” to name (mass × velocity), distinguished from “accelerative force,” and “motive force.” To sum up, the three reprints of Mécanique céleste in the 19th century reflect its high status in France, and to some extent elsewhere; a locus classicus for celestial mechanics on a scale unmatched since Newton, and also a valuable source for a cluster of important mathematical theories and methods.
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