Marquis de Laplace Character Analysis

The French scientist argued that the entire universe could be determined by the laws of science. He thought that by knowing scientific laws thoroughly, and where every single particle was in one point in time, scientists would be able to predict everything, even human behavior. This was later undermined by the uncertainty principle, which asserts that one cannot know the position of particles precisely. At the turn of the 19th century Laplace suggested the existence of black holes, but later seemed to abandon the idea. Hawking does not mock Laplace’s desire to understand the world, though he does serve as an example of the dangers of misplaced enthusiasm or arrogance.