Wikinventia — Atlas of discoveries and inventions · Exploration Age

First publication of differential calculus — Leibniz

1684 AD · Transmission: Disputed
MathematicsTheoryGermanic

Leibniz published in October 1684 the first printed exposition of differential calculus in the Acta Eruditorum of Leipzig. His notation — d for differentials, ∫ for integrals — proved so fertile that it became universally adopted and is the one used today. Although Newton had developed equivalent methods earlier, he had not published them; the priority dispute that followed was partly politically instrumentalized by the Royal Society. Modern historiography recognizes two independent, simultaneous developments.

InstitutionActa Eruditorum
Historical regionLeipzig
Primary sourceLeibniz, G.W. — Nova methodus pro maximis et minimis (Acta Eruditorum, October 1684)
Secondary sourceHall, A.R. — Philosophers at War: The Quarrel between Newton and Leibniz (1980, Cambridge UP)
Original languageLatin
View this entry in the interactive atlas → View in graph →