Historical Figures Codexery

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

German polymath and co-creator of calculus

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German polymath who made foundational contributions to mathematics, philosophy, and many other fields.[1] Leibniz has been called the "last universal genius" due to his vast expertise across numerous disciplines.[1] Along with Isaac Newton, Leibniz is recognized for independently developing differential and integral calculus.[1][2]

Quick Facts

Born
1 July 1646
Birthplace
Leipzig, Electorate of Saxony
Died
14 November 1716
Place of death
Hanover, Electorate of Hanover
Era
17th-/18th-century philosophy
Region
Western philosophy
Father
Friedrich Leibniz
Notable students
Jacob Bernoulli (epistolary correspondent), Christian Wolff (epistolary correspondent)

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Leibniz was born on 1 July 1646 in Leipzig, and his father died when he was six years old.[3] After being turned down for a doctorate in law at Leipzig, he earned his license and doctorate at the University of Altdorf in November 1666.[4][5] In Paris in 1672, he met Christiaan Huygens and began a self-study program that led to his version of calculus.[6][7] He died on 14 November 1716.[1]

At age 14, in April 1661, Leibniz began studying at the university where his father had previously taught, and he obtained his bachelor's degree in Philosophy in December 1662.[8][9] The dispute over who first invented calculus, which started in 1708 when John Keill accused Leibniz of plagiarizing Newton, cast a shadow over Leibniz's final years.[10]

What the cited sources add

The Isaac Newton Institute account notes that Newton had the essence of the methods of fluxions by 1666, and that Leibniz independently evolved his differential calculus in Paris in 1675.[11] The same source states that Leibniz's first paper on calculus was published in 1684.[11] According to the Isaac Newton Institute, supporters of Leibniz asserted he had communicated the differential method to Newton, though Leibniz claimed no such thing.[11] The Newton Institute also reports that Leibniz had seen papers of Newton's during a 1676 London visit but took no notice of material on fluxions.[11]

The dispute extended to attacks on Newton's theory of gravitation and was not ended by Leibniz's death.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dunne 2022 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Russell 2013, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Gm_cCZBiOhQC&pg=PA469 469]; Isaac Newton, "The Mathematical Papers of Isaac Newton Volume 1 from 1664 to 1666 edited by Derek Thomas Whiteside b19320723 d20080422 [1967] {510.8--oclc}", May 25, 1967; Rupert Hall, "Philosophers at War: The Quarrel Between Newton and Leibniz.", Cambridge University Press, 1969, p. 1; Rupert Hall, "The Newton-Leibniz controversy over the invention of the calculus.", p. 3; "Isaac Newton’s Life", Isaac Newton Institute, March 23, 2021; Handley Fos en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sariel 2019, p. ; Müller Krönert 1969, p. 3; Mates 1989, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=b3M8DwAAQBAJ&q=Gottfried+Leibniz+father+died+when+he+was+six+and+a+half+years+old&pg=PA17 17] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jolley 1995, p. 20; Simmons 2007, p. 143; Mackie Guhrauer 1845, p. 21 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mackie Guhrauer 1845, p. 21; Arthur 2014, p. 16 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Laerke, "A Circle Without a Circle: Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus’s Natural Scientific Method", Journal of Modern Philosophy, 2026-03-26 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Look 2013; Laerke, "A Circle Without a Circle: Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus’s Natural Scientific Method", Journal of Modern Philosophy, 2026-03-26 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: O'Connor Robertson 1998; Arthur 2014, p. 16; Mackie Guhrauer 1845, p. 21 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Arthur 2014, p. 16 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mackie Guhrauer 1845, p. 21 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. "Isaac Newton’s Life", Isaac Newton Institute, March 23, 2021. facts only, no text reused. newton.ac.uk

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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