Pierre Louis Maupertuis Quotes
-
However dangerous might be the shock of a comet, it might be so slight, that it would only do damage at the part of the Earth where it actually struck; perhaps even we might cry quits if while one kingdom were devastated, the rest of the Earth were to enjoy the rarities which a body which came from so far might bring it. Perhaps we should be very surprised to find that the debris of these masses that we despised were formed of gold and diamonds; but who would be the most astonished, we, or the comet-dwellers, who would be cast on our Earth? What strange being each would find the other!
→ -
In order to turn natural history into a true science, one would have to devote oneself to investigations capable of telling us not the particular shape of such and such an animal, but the general procedures of nature in the animal's production and preservation.
→
Pierre Louis Maupertuis
- Born: September 28, 1698
- Died: July 27, 1759
- Occupation: Mathematician
Related Authors
-
Leonhard Euler Mathematician -
David Hume Philosopher -
Voltaire Writer -
Pierre Bayle Philosopher -
Immanuel Kant Philosopher -
Baruch Spinoza Philosopher -
Gottfried Leibniz Mathematician -
Denis Diderot Philosopher -
Rene Descartes Philosopher -
Nicolas Malebranche Philosopher -
Julien Offray de La Mettrie Physician -
John Locke Philosopher -
George Berkeley Philosopher -
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon Naturalist -
Johann Bernoulli Mathematician -
Isaac Newton Physicist -
Joseph-Louis Lagrange Mathematician -
Jean le Rond d'Alembert Mathematician -
Aristotle Philosopher -
Emilie du Chatelet Mathematician