Pierre-Simon Laplace, French Polymath
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Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace (March 23, 1749 - March 5, 1827) was a French mathematician and astronomer whose work was pivotal to the development of mathematical astronomy and statistics. He formulated Laplace's equation, and pioneered the Laplace transform which appears in many branches of mathematical physics. Between 1799 and 1825 he published his most important work, Celestial Mechanics. The book aimed to improve the understanding of the motions in the solar system by studying the gravitational perturbations between the sun and the planets. He proposed that the solar system was formed from a rotating disk of gas and was one of the first scientists to postulate the existence of black holes and the notion of gravitational collapse. He died in 1827 at the age of 77. His brain was removed by his physician, Francois Magendie, and kept for many years, eventually being displayed in a roving anatomical museum. His name is one of the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.