Tangled Origins Of The Leibnizian Calculus, The: A Case Study Of A Mathematical Revolution

Book excerpt: This book is a detailed study of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's creation of calculus from 1673 to the 1680s. We examine and analyze the mathematics in several of his early manuscripts as well as various articles published in the Acta Eruditorum. It studies some of the other lesser known “calculi” Leibniz created such as the Analysis Situs, delves into aspects of his logic, and gives an overview of his efforts to construct a Universal Characteristic, a goal that has its distant origin in the Ars Magna of the 13th century Catalan philosopher Raymond Llull, whose work enjoyed a renewed popularity in the century and a half prior to Leibniz.This book also touches upon a new look at the priority controversy with Newton and a Kuhnian interpretation of the nature of mathematical change. This book may be the only integrated treatment based on recent research and should be a thought-provoking contribution to the history of mathematics for scholars and students, interested in either Leibniz's mathematical achievement or general issues in the field.