Pierre Louis Maupertuis, French Polymath
Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (July 17, 1698 - July 27, 1759) was a French polymath who made contributions to the fields of mathematics, physics, biology, metaphysics, moral philosophy, astronomy, and geography. In 1723 he was admitted to the Acad̩mie des Sciences. In 1736 he made an expedition to Lapland to measure the length of a degree of arc of the meridian to determine the shape of the earth. He is credited with having invented the principle of least action (variational principle), when applied to the action of a mechanical system, can be used to obtain the equations of motion for that system. He proposed a theory of generation (reproduction) in which organic matter possessed a self-organizing intelligence that was comparable to the contemporary chemical concept of affinities. He explored heredity, collecting evidence that confirmed the contributions of both sexes and treated variations as statistical phenomena. Historians of science point to his work in biology as a significant precursor to the development of the theory of natural selection. Finding his health declining, he retired in 1757 and died a year later at the age of 61.
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