Calculus Wars

About this book

Those interested in a lucid nontechnical account of the battle between Isaac Newton (16421727) and German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (16461716) over who invented calculus will welcome science writer and debut author Bardis cautionary tale. As early as 1665 Newton composed a manuscript detailing his method of calculus with examples but after his unpleasant experience with a 1672 paper on optics that aroused the ire of Robert Hooke an eminent member of the Royal Society who accused the younger man of plagiarism Newton became shy of publishing. Between 1672 and 1676 Leibniz independently discovered calculus using notation that has since become standard. When Leibniz published his results Newtons allies rushed to discredit Leibniz in what developed in Bardis words into "the greatest intellectual property debate of all time." While a few personal asides might better have been put in the preface Bardi provides a timeless lesson about human pride as he describes the series of misunderstandings and miscommunications that led to the clash between these two great minds "perhaps the greatest of their day."