CALCULUS---Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz?

Question

Ok so i know there was a huge disoute betwwen these two mathematicians, but i need someone to explain to me what really happened (e.d, info in the dispute over the origins of Calculus) and the effects on mathematics in Europe and England.

Also if you could provide some info on the different notation these mathematicians used, that would be great!! (please write your source if you find anything in the web)

Answer 1

There is a lot of info available, Men of Mathematics is a good source (other post). Often people talk about it as if they "invented" calculus. Newton himself said "If I have seen farther it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants." Archimedes (famous anceint mathematician) was able to solve some area problems with his Priniciple of Exhuastion (which is really not HIS but someone else's, I think Eudoxus, but Archimedes got credit because he made it solve a lot of problems). Peirre de Fermat solved the tangent problem for algebraic functions before either Newton and Leibniz, but he did not have a similar technique for transcendental functions. So, first off, I'd say the "invent" word is stretching it, the ideas were already there before them, they just "took it to another level."

What is at the heart of the debate is (supposedly) Newton invented calculus while hiding away from a plague at his family home, wrote it down in notes but then didn't publish it. Later, Leibniz (with perhaps some references to Newton's work) developed his own approach to calculus. Leibniz published, then Newton came out with his notes and said "Oh, I did this fifteen years ago."

It became a battle between mathematicians from "the Continent" (Europe) versus mathematicians from England. Some authors argue that this divisiveness caused English mathematics to develop separately from the mainstream of mathematics in Europe, others suggest we wouldn't have the work of Cayley and others if this schism hadn't taken place.

Good luck in your search.

Answer 2

Newton and Leibnitz are both credited with solving the problem of the tangent line and inventing differential calculus, and they worked independantly and in different countries. Newton used the simple notation of y' for the derivative of y, while Leibnitz used the more complicated dy/dx notation, which is a better notation for remembering certian formulas and for taking the antiderivate or integral. For sources, see if you can find a copy of the book -Men of Mathematics-, or check wikipedia.

Answer 3

fairly, both adult males corresponded with one yet another early on about calculus. it is also a undeniable truth that Leibniz did see some manuscripts of Newton that were about Calculus. even even with the truth that both adult males don't like one yet another, they did appreciate one yet another's psychological school. there's a quote attributed to Leibniz about Newton and paraphrasing it: "Of each of the paintings that has been performed in arithmetic in the previous, what Newton has performed ranks above it."

Answer 4

Don't click on that link, I've seen it posted in other questions tonight and someone says it's a virus.