Generations of physicists and engineers have been using the mathematical transforms, especially the Laplace transform, as a short-cut to solve countless problems and to study transient and steady-state phenomena. However, it is the Laplace transform really Laplace's? Its history could be viewed as a truly 200 year-old saga. Its name pays homage to the great french mathematician Pierre-Simon de Laplace, but that is not all. In attempt to answer this question and stimulate the interest on topics concerned to transform techniques, a historic approach is presented showing some technical innovations that made out of this extraordinary tool a real work of engineering.
Laplace transform; history of physics; higher education
