Adrien-Quentin, abbé BUÉE (1748-1826), mathematician, author - Lot 10

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Lot n° 10
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Adrien-Quentin, abbé BUÉE (1748-1826), mathematician, author - Lot 10
Adrien-Quentin, abbé BUÉE (1748-1826), mathematician, author of works on complex numbers. Autograph letter (draft) to Chevalier de Sade [Louis de Sade (1753-1832)]. 3 ½ pp. in-4. Circa 1815. Rare scientific letter on Laplace's theories, in response to Chevalier de Sade's mailing of the second volume of Tydologie ou la science des marées (London, 1810-1813). He explains his reason for not critically reviewing the second volume as he did the first. "I must explain to you the cause of my perplexities. You have a faith in algebra that I do not share with you. You seem to attribute to Mr Laplace's formulas a virtue that I do not believe in. These formulas are undoubtedly admirable; but the more you delve into them, the less you hear of them and the more you become convinced that their application is always very difficult and often impossible. We can only rely on those that have undergone the ever-dreaded test of constant experience. The reason for this is that, in order to apply them, you have to make a very large number of assumptions similar to those required by the false position rule, and it is always very difficult to be sure of the correctness of these assumptions and the means of correcting them, if, as almost always happens, they are not correct. You propose many tables; you insist strongly on their advantages. The history of all the sciences shows that tables relating to a science that is too little advanced are more of an obstacle to its further advancement than a means of accelerating it. Tables are nothing more than connections of facts. If a single fact is missing from these connections, they are false, and if we start from these false connections to move forward, the further we go, the further we deviate from the truth. As all known methods have this defect, you can see, sir, that if I had wanted to go into all the necessary details of those you propose, 20 volumes the size of yours would not have sufficed [...]". Attached is a note signed "AB" by an unidentified author, late 18th-early 19th century, 2 pp. in-8, entitled: "Note historique sur l'aiguille courbe à manche", concluding: "il paraît donc que l'aiguille emmanchée n'est pas de l'invention de Chappe ni de Mr Deschamps et qu'on doit rapporter l'invention à casa major Laplace".
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