Gottfried Leibniz

Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (also Leibnitz) (Leipzig July 1 (June 21 O.S.), 1646 – November 14, 1716 in Hannover) was a German philosopher, scientist, mathematician, diplomat, librarian, and lawyer.

The calculus

Although there is some question of original authorship, Leibniz is credited along with Isaac Newton with inventing the infinitesimal calculus in the 1670s. According to his notes, a critical breakthrough in his work here occurred on November 11, 1675, when he demonstrated integral calculus for the first time to find the area under the function y = x. He introduced several notations used in calculus to this day, for instance the integral sign ∫ representing an elongated S from the Latin word summa and the d used for differentials from the Latin word differentia.

Related Topics:
Isaac Newton - Infinitesimal calculus - 1670s - November 11 - 1675

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