Laplace's Demon

Period: 1814

Summary

Laplace’s Demon is a thought experiment introduced by Pierre-Simon Laplace in his 1814 work A Philosophical Essay on Probabilities. It posits a hypothetical intellect capable of knowing the position and velocity of every particle in the universe, allowing it to predict the future and retrodict the past with absolute certainty. This concept highlights the deterministic worldview of classical mechanics, sparking debates about free will, uncertainty, and the limits of computation.