Calculus uses the idea of infintesimals and limits to analyze functions and squeeze new information out of them. The idea of infintesimals was developed by the early Greeks as well as Chinese and others. Many people contributed small pieces until newton, trying to explain why the moon stays in its orbit, was forced to develope these ideas to their completion and invented calculus, derivatives and antiderivatives, in the process. Liebnez developed similar ideas at about the same time and improved on the notation that Newton was using.
There are many good sites on the web that go into much detail. A good place to start is
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Calculus
2007-11-24 03:06:50
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answer #1
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answered by baja_tom 4
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Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Isaac Newton were the main characters in developing the idea of calculus. However, the idea of calculus can be traced back to the Egyptian papyrus 1800 BC! If you want some more info, check out the following sites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calculus#History
http://www.calculus.org/
http://www.mhhe.com/math/calc/smithminton2e/cd/tools/timeline/
Hope this helps!
2007-11-24 11:05:45
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answer #2
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answered by Danny_b 1
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Newton is one of the fathers of calculus.
Archimedes was also believed to have understood some concepts of calculus.
That's really all I know.
2007-11-24 10:59:11
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answer #3
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answered by MathDude356 3
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It began with Newton and Liebnez. They built the foundations by implying the basic rules to complex mathematics.
2007-11-24 11:00:50
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answer #4
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answered by Anonymous
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Here is some of it:
Story
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/The_rise_of_calculus.html
http://www1.umn.edu/ships/9-1/calculus.htm
Articles
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2002/november6/archimedes-116.html
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20071006/mathtrek.asp
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/298/5595/967
http://library.thinkquest.org/C0110248/calculus/history1.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Calculus
Blurbs
http://physics.weber.edu/carroll/Archimedes/calculus.htm
Interesting Links:
http://www.archimedespalimpsest.org/
http://www.mscs.dal.ca/~kgardner/History.html
http://www.mhhe.com/math/calc/smithminton2e/cd/tools/timeline/
Books:
http://www.amazon.com/History-Calculus-Its-Conceptual-Development/dp/0486605094
2007-11-24 11:11:13
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answer #5
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answered by Curly 6
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