A History of the Mathematical Theories of Attraction and the Figure of the Earth
From the Time of Newton to that of Laplace

Published in 1874, this two-volume work traces an important branch of astronomy from Newton through to Laplace.

Isaac Todhunter (Author)

9781108084581, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 April 2015

518 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2.9 cm, 0.65 kg

Newton's Principia paints a picture of the earth as a spinning, gravitating ball. However, the earth is not completely rigid and the interplay of forces will modify its shape in subtle ways. Newton predicted a flattening at the poles, yet others disagreed. Plenty of books have described the expeditions which sought to measure the shape of the earth, but very little has appeared on the mathematics of a problem, which remains of enduring interest even in an age of satellites. Published in 1874, this two-volume work by Isaac Todhunter (1820–84), perhaps the greatest Victorian historian of mathematics, takes the mathematical story from Newton, through the expeditions which settled the matter in Newton's favour, to the investigations of Laplace which opened a new era in mathematical physics. Volume 2 is largely devoted to the work of Laplace, tracing developments up to 1825.

19. Laplace's first three memoirs
20. Legendre's first memoir
21. Laplace's treatise
22. Legendre's second memoir
23. Laplace's fourth, fifth, and sixth memoirs
24. Legendre's third memoir
25. Legendre's fourth memoir
26. Laplace's seventh memoir
27. Miscellaneous investigations between the years 1781 and 1800
28. Laplace, Mécanique céleste, first and second volumes
29. Laplace's theorem
30. Laplace's equation
31. Partial differential equation for V
32. Laplace's second method of treating Legendre's problem
33. Laplace's memoirs
34. Fifth volume of the Mécanique céleste
35. Poisson
36. Ivory
37. Plana
38. Miscellaneous investigations between the years 1801 and 1825
Index.

Subject Areas: History of mathematics [PBX]