Leibnizian calculus and notation
Cálculo diferencial e integral de Leibniz y su notación
- Date
- 1675 · confidence high
- Place
- Paris, France
- Credited to
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- People
- 👤 Gottfried Leibniz1646–1716
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
A calculus based on infinitesimal differentials, with the notation dx, dy/dx and the integral sign we still use, the product and chain rules, and the first publication (Nova methodus, 1684). His workable notation let calculus spread across the continent through the Bernoullis.
An independent discovery from Newton's; the priority dispute was historiographically resolved by crediting both. Leibniz also invented the binary system (1703) and conceived a logical calculus.
What it led to
- the Bernoulli and Euler school
- differential equations
- modern analysis
- mathematical notation
Built on
- Wave theory of light and Huygens' principle1678-1690
- Pascal
- Gregory series
Made possible
- Chain rule1676
- L'Hôpital's rule1694-1696
- Alternating series test (Leibniz's test)c. 1705
- continental engineering (École Polytechnique)