Laplace's Celestial Mechanics

This is the title page of Nathaniel Bowditch’s (1773 - 1838) English language translation of vol. 1 of Laplace's Celestial Mechanics.  Pierre-Simon de Laplace (1749-- 1827) produced his monumental work: Mécanique Céleste in five volumes during the years 1799 to 1825.  Bowditch’s translation was one of the first translations of a major European mathematical work in the new United States of America. He completed the translation in 1818 but delayed publication until 1829 due to a lack of funds for its printing.

 Pages 230 and 231 of Celestial Mechanics discuss the attraction of a body on a point in space.