The Mecanique celeste, in which Laplace welded into a whole the items of knowledge accumulated by the labours of a century, has been termed the " Almagest of the 18th century " (Fourier).
After serving for a short time in the artillery, he was appointed in 1797 professor of mathematics at Beauvais, and in 1800 he became professor of physics at the College de France, through the influence of Laplace, from whom he had sought and obtained the favour of reading the proof sheets of the Mecanique celeste.
The Mecanique celeste is, even to those most conversant with analytical methods, by no means easy reading.
The publication of the Mecanique celeste gained him world-wide celebrity, and his name appeared on the lists of the principal scientific associations of Europe, including the Royal Society.
He had already assisted Nathaniel Bowditch in his translation of the Mecanique celeste, and now produced a series of mathematical textbooks characterized by the brevity and terseness which made his teaching unattractive to inapt pupils.