L'Hôpital's rule
Regla de l'Hôpital
- Date
- 1694-1696 · confidence high
- Place
- Basel, Switzerland
- Credited to
- Johann Bernoulli (discoverer); Guillaume de l'Hôpital (publication, 1696)
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Johann Bernoulli discovered the method for resolving indeterminate 0/0 forms using derivatives and communicated it by letter to Guillaume de l'Hôpital in 1694; l'Hôpital published it in 1696 in the first textbook on differential calculus, so the rule ended up bearing his name.
L'Hôpital paid Bernoulli for his mathematical discoveries under an exclusivity agreement; after l'Hôpital's death, Bernoulli publicly claimed true authorship of the rule.
What it led to
- systematic resolution of indeterminate limits in calculus
- consolidation of differential calculus as a teachable discipline
- a classic historical example of authorship disputes in science