If ever a major study of the history of science should have acted like a sudden revolution it is this book, published in two volumes in 1905 and 1906 under the title, Les origines de la statique. Paris, the place of publication, and the Librairie scientifique A. Hermann that brought it be enough of a guarantee to prevent a very different out, could seem to outcome. Without prompting anyone, for some years yet, to follow up the revolutionary vistas which it opened up, Les origines de la statique certainly revolutionized Duhem's remaining ten or so years. He became the single-handed discoverer...

The M canique analytique presents a comprehensive account of Lagrangian mechanics. In this work, Lagrange used the Principle of Virtual Work in conjunction with the Lagrangian Multiplier to solve all problems of statics. For the treatment of dynamics, a third concept had to be added to the first two - d'Alembert's Principle - in order to develop the Lagrangian equations of motion. Hence, Lagrange was able to unify the entire science of mechanics using only three concepts and algebraic operations.

If ever a major study of the history of science should have acted like a sudden revolution it is this book, published in two volumes in 1905 and 1906 under the title, Les origines de la statique. Paris, the place of publication, and the Librairie scientifique A. Hermann that brought it be enough of a guarantee to prevent a very different out, could seem to outcome. Without prompting anyone, for some years yet, to follow up the revolutionary vistas which it opened up, Les origines de la statique certainly revolutionized Duhem's remaining ten or so years. He became the single-handed discoverer...