The History Of Calculus

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Calculus, the mathematical study of change, can be separated into two departments: differential calculus, and integral calculus. Both are concerned with infinite sequences and series to define a limit. In order to produce this study, inventors and innovators throughout history have been present and necessary. The ancient Greeks, Indians, and Enlightenment thinkers developed the basic elements of calculus by forming ideas and theories, but it was not until the late 17th century that the theories and concepts were being specified. Originally called infinitesimal calculus, meaning to create a solution for calculating objects smaller than any feasible measurement previously known through the use of symbolic manipulation of expressions. Generally accepted, Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz were recognized as the two major inventors and innovators of calculus, but the controversy appeared when both wanted sole credit of the invention of calculus. This paper will display the typical reason of why Newton was the inventor of calculus and Leibniz was the innovator, while both contributed an immense amount of knowledge to the system.

Historically speaking, ancient inventors of Greek origin, mathematicians such as Archimedes of Syracuse, and Antiphon the Sophist, were the first to discover the basic elements that translated into what we now understand and have formed into the mathematical branch called calculus. Archimedes used infinite sequences of triangular areas to calculate the area of a parabolic segment, as an example of summation of an infinite series. He also used the Method of Exhaustion, invented by Antiphon, to approximate the area of a circle, as an example of early integration.

Realizing Indian mathematicians, Aryabhata e...

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...ocity. On the other hand, Leibniz had taken a geometrical approach, basing his discoveries on the work of previous thinkers like Fermat and Pascal. Though Newton had been the first to derive calculus as a mathematical approach, Leibniz was the first one to widely disseminate the concept throughout Europe. This was perhaps the most conclusive evidence that Newton and Leibniz were both independent developers of calculus. Newton’s timeline displays more evidence of inventing calculus because of his refusal to use theories or concepts to prove his answers, while Leibniz furthered other mathematician’s ideas to collaborate and bring together theorems for the application of calculus. The history of calculus developed as a result of sequential events, including many inventions and innovations, which led to forward thinking in the development of the mathematical system.

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