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See also: born at St Maio on the 17th of See also: July 1698
.
When twenty years of age he entered the army, becoming See also: lieutenant in a regiment of cavalry, and employing his leisure on mathematical studies
.
After five years he quitted the army and was admitted in 1723 a member of the See also: Academy of Sciences
.
In 1728 he visited See also: London, and was elected a See also: fellow of the Royal Society
.
In 1736 he acted as chief of the expedition sent by See also: Louis XV. into
See also: Lapland to measure the length of a degree of the meridian (see See also: EARTH, FIGURE OF), and on his return home he became a member of almost all the scientific See also: societies of See also: Europe
.
In 1740 Maupertuis went to Berlin on the invitation of the See also: king of Prussia, and took
See also: part in the See also: battle of Mollwitz, where he was taken prisoner by the Austrians
.
On his See also: release he returned to Berlin, and thence to See also: Paris, where he was elected director of the Academy of Sciences in 1742, and in the following See also: year was admitted into the Academy
.
Returning to Berlin in 1744, at the See also: desire of See also: Frederick II., he was chosen president of the Royal Academy of Sciences in 1746
.
Finding his See also: health declining, he repaired in 1757 to the See also: south of See also: France, but went in 1758 to See also: Basel, where he died on the 27th of July 1759
.
Maupertuis was unquestionably a m ,n of consider-able ability as a mathematician, but his restless, gloomy disposition involved him in See also: constant quarrels, of which his controversies with See also: Konig and Voltaire during the latter part of his See also: life furnish examples
.
The following are his most important See also: works: Sur la figure de la terre (Paris, 1738) ; Discours sur la parallaxe de la tune (Paris, 1741) ; Discours sur la figure See also: des astres (Paris, 1742) ; Elements de la geographie (Paris, 1742); Lettre sur la comae de 1742 (Paris, 1742); Astronomie nautique (Paris, 1745 and 1746) ; See also: Venus physique (Paris, 1745) ; Essai de cosmologie (See also: Amsterdam, 1750)
.
His Euvres were published in 1752 at See also: Dresden and in 1756 at See also: Lyons
.
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