Portrait of Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1698-1759): French polymath who made significant contributions to mathematics, physics, biology, metaphysics, astronomy and geography. In 1736, he led an expedition to Lapland to measure the length of a degree of arc of the meridian to determine the shape of the earth. He is credited with inventing the principle of least action, an integral equation that determines the path followed by a physical system. Maupertuis also proposed a theory of generation (reproduction) in which organic matter possessed a self-organising intelligence comparable to the contemporary chemical concept of affinities. Historians of science consider his work in biology as a significant precursor to the development of the theory of natural selection. Artwork was created by the French artist Jean Daulle.