Laplace, 18th Century determinist
"An intelligence knowing all the forces acting in nature at a given instant,
as well as the momentary positions of all things in the universe, would be able
to comprehend in one single formula the motions of the largest bodies as well
as the lightest atoms in the world, provided that its intellect were sufficiently
powerful to subject all data to analysis: to it nothing would be uncertain,
the future as well as the past would be present to its eyes."
Laplace (1749-1827) Mathematician and theoretical astronomer, Laplace has been
called the 'Newton' of France. The quotation is borrowed from Nagel: The Structure
of Science, p.281, footnote.
Full reference, though not the translation: Pierre Laplace, Analytic Theory
of Probability, Paris, 1820. (Citation in D.J. O'Connor, Free Will, New
York, 1971.
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