finally, the satellites, when
any such are formed, must revolve upon their axes and around their
respective primaries, in the direction of rotation of the planets and of
their movement of revolution around the sun.

In all that precedes, attention has been concentrated upon the
'Mecanique Celeste.' The 'Systeme du Monde' and the 'Theorie Analytique
des Probabilites' also deserve description.

The Exposition of the System of the World is the 'Mecanique Celeste'
divested of that great apparatus of analytical formulae which must be
attentively perused by every astronomer who, to use an expression of
Plato, wishes to know the numbers which govern the physical universe. It
is from this work that persons ignorant of mathematics may obtain
competent knowledge of the methods to which physical astronomy owes its
astonishing progress. Written with a noble simplicity of style, an
exquisite exactness of expression, and a scrupulous accuracy, it is
universally conceded to stand among the noblest monuments of French
literature.... The labors of all ages to persuade truth from the heavens
are there justly, clearly, and profoundly analyzed. Genius presides as
the impartial judge of genius. Throughout his work Laplace remained at
the height of his great mission. It will be read with respect so long as
the torch of science illuminates the world.

The calculus of probabilities, when confined within just limits,
concerns the mathematician, the experimenter, and the statesman. From
the time when Pascal and Fermat established its first principles, it has
rendered most important daily services. This it is which, after
suggesting the best form for statistical tables of population and
mortality, teaches us to deduce from those numbers, so often
misinterpreted, the most precise and useful conclusions. This it is
which alone regulates with equity insurance premiums, pension funds,
annuities, discounts, etc. This it is that has gradually suppressed
lotteries, and other shameful snares cunningly laid for avarice and
ignorance. Laplace has treated these questions with his accustomed
superiority: the 'Analytical Theory of Probabilities' is worthy of the
author of the 'Mecanique Celeste.'

A philosopher whose name is associated with immortal discoveries said to
his too conservative audience, "Bear in mind, gentlemen, that in
questions of science the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble
reasoning of a single individual." Two centuries h