Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis

Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1698–1759) was a mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, writer and polymath of the Enlightenment. As typical for the period, he worked in many fields of natural sciences. His role as the leader of an expedition to the far north had a significant impact on his identity.

Roots

Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis was born in Saint-Malo, Brittany, on the west coast of France in 1698. His father was a sea captain and corsaire, a privateer legitimised by the King. His noble family invested in the education of their gifted son, training him mathematics, philosophy, music and in military sciences.

Persona

Maupertuis was an ambitious and socially adept scientist who wanted to make a name for himself not only in academic circles but also in the eyes of the general public. Maupertuis knew the art of flattery in the company of noblewomen and kings alike. He was a figure celebrated by social circles and the philosophical elite, who were careful about their public image.

Career

Maupertuis was elected to the French Académie des sciences at the age of 25 in 1723. The expedition to the Torne Valley in 1736–1737 was one of the turning points in his career. After the journey, Maupertuis received a shower of honours and attracted the attention of King Frederick II the Great of Prussia. In 1745, Maupertuis moved to Berlin to head the Royal Prussian Academy of Science. In his studies, Maupertuis was interested in Newton’s natural philosophy (La Figure de la Terre, 1738), procreation (Vénus physique, 1745) and metaphysics (Essai de cosmologie, 1749).

Conflicts

Maupertuis was involved in several personal and academic conflicts during his life. One of the most important was between Maupertuis and his former friend, the writer and philosopher Voltaire. The public dispute also involved the Prussian King Frederick II the Great, who prominently defended Maupertuis.

Death

In his last years, Maupertuis suffered from consumption. He died of the disease in Basel, Switzerland, at the home of his friend Johann Bernoulli the Younger, on his way from France to his home in Berlin in 1759. Maupertuis is buried in the Church of Dornach in Switzerland.

Timeline – turning points in the life of the Maupertuis

Under 20 years old

1698. Born in Saint-Malo, a port town on the Brittany coast, the son of a privateer captain (corsaire). The date of birth is not known. Baptised on 28 September at the Saint-Élier manor.

Saint-Malo on the Brittany coast in France. Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France.

1714. Moves to Paris at the age of 16 to continue his studies at the Collège de la Marché. After finishing his studies, his father arranges for his son to become a Musketeer in the King’s Guard.

20 to 30 years old

1720. Starts as a cavalry captain in Lille. Spends winters in Paris. Begins studying mathematics.

1723. Resigns his post as a cavalry captain, moves permanently to Paris. Elected to the French Académie des sciences.

Paris in 1733. Excerpt from the drawing. Source: Universitats und Landesbibliothek Darmstadt.

1728. Goes on a study trip to London for a few months, where he meets the successors to Isaac Newton (1643–1727). Becomes a member of the Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge.

30 to 40 years old

1729–1730. Travels to Basel, Switzerland, to study under leading mathematician Johann Bernoulli the Elder (1667–1748). Bernoulli becomes Maupertuis’s mentor and his son Johann Bernoulli the Younger (1710–1790) a long-term collaborator.

Johann Bernoulli the Elder and the Younger.

1731. Advances to the position of pensionnaire géomètre at the French Académie des sciences.

1732. Publishes Discours sur les différentes figures des astres avec une exposition des systèmes de MM. Descartes et Newton, in which he compares Cartesian and Newtonian physics.

1735. Advances in the academy, where he is selected for important positions as a judge of award competitions and vice president of the Academy.

1736–1737. Leads an expedition to the Torne Valley.

Source: Gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France.

1738. Publishes La Figure de la Terre, a combination of an exploration report and an adventure story.

1739. Orders a portrait of himself flattening the globe under his palm. Receives an honorary award tailored by the Minister of Maritime Affairs, de Maurepas, with the mission of improving maritime transport.

40 to 50 years old

1740. Visits King Frederick II the Great of Prussia in Wesel and Berlin. The King tries to persuade Maupertuis to move to Berlin.

1741. Taken prisoner by the Austrians in the First Silesian War between Prussia and Austria. Transported to the court of Archduchess Maria Theresa in Vienna, where he is soon released.

1742. Elected to head the French Académie des sciences. Publishes an anonymous work, Lettres sur la comète, on comets and their place in Newton’s mechanics of the heavens.

1743. Elected a member of the literary department of the French Academy.

1744. In his study of the law of refraction of light, Maupertuis also formulates the Principle of least action, which is still relevant to the foundations of mathematical physics.

1745.Publishes an anonymous work on procreation, Vénus physique. Moves to Berlin at the invitation of Frederick the Great and becomes President of the Royal Prussian Academy of Science.

The painting depicts the court of Frederick II the Great in Potsdam, Sanssouci Palace. At the Emperor’s table gathered a group of cultured people like Voltaire and Giacomo Casanova. Painting: Adolph von Menzel, 1850.

1745 or 1746. Marries Catharina Eleonora von Borck, maid of honour to Princess Amelie of Prussia.

1749. Publishes Essai de cosmologie, in which he writes about the Principle of least action, the laws of motion and God. The aim was to understand the underlying causes of these phenomena.

50 to 60 years old

1750. Begins to suffer from severe consumption. He tries to cure the disease by spending time in the sea air of his hometown of Saint-Malo.

1751. The German mathematician Samuel König claims that Gottfried Leibniz had invented the Principle of least action before Maupertuis. Voltaire publishes pamphlets in which he describes Maupertuis as half-mad and money-grubbing, and a fantasy, Micromégas, which ridicules Maupertuis’s scientific expedition.

1752. Maupertuis retires to Saint-Malo in France for health reasons, leaving the leadership of the Berlin Academy of Sciences to Leonhard Euler (1707–1783).

1754. Returns to Berlin.

1756. Leaves Berlin again for Saint-Malo. Around the same time, war breaks out between Prussia and France, later to be known as the Seven Years' War. Maupertuis is in a difficult position between the warring states.

1757. Doctors recommend a trip to Italy for Maupertuis, who is suffering from consumption. He sets off, but stops in Bordeaux to visit his former lover, the Duchesse d'Aiguillon. From there, he moves further south to Toulouse, where he spends the winter of 1757–1758.

1759. Gives up the idea of travelling to Italy and goes back to Berlin, but does not have time to return. Dies at the age of 60 from consumption in Basel, Switzerland, at the home of Johann Bernoulli the Younger on 27 July. Is buried in the church of Dornach.