Laplace’s Demon — Is Future Pre-Determined?

 Laplace's Demon -- Is Future Pre-Determined? Early in the 19th century, the French mathematician and astronomer Pierre-Simon Laplace claimed that if some entity could  know the precise location and momentum of every atom in the universe then it could use Newton's laws to reveal the entire course of cosmic events, past and future. This hypothetical all-knowing entity later came to be referred to as "Laplace's Demon" . Implicit in Laplace's claim is the presumption that future is "pre-determined". Many people question this presumption -- mainly in view of "uncertainties" in the world of the atom, and particularly in Quantum Mechanics.  However, it would seem that this is not a valid refutation of "determinism". The "uncertainty principle" of modern physics concerns the "tolerance band" that limits "measurement" and "observation" -- and not about the impossibility of future  actually  being pr...