Calculus
Isaac NewtonGottfried Wilhelm LeibnizMādhava
This page delivers no verdict; it presents claims and evidence with their sources. No theory in science is absolute. Method
For everyone
Calculus, which lets us compute change and accumulation, is the language of physics and engineering. Whether Newton and Leibniz developed it independently was argued over for a long time. Some historians also point to earlier work on infinite series by the Kerala school in India.
For specialists
Leibniz published differential calculus in 1684 in Acta Eruditorum ("Nova Methodus pro Maximis et Minimis") and introduced the dx and ∫ notation still in use. Newton's method of "fluxions" was developed in the 1660s and circulated in manuscript (De Analysi, 1669) but was published late. The Royal Society's 1712 report, the Commercium Epistolicum, found for Newton. It later emerged that Newton himself had steered the report. The Kerala school (Mādhava, c. 1340–1425) reached power series for arctan, sin and cos. Whether this knowledge was transmitted to Europe has not been demonstrated.
Positions
- Independent discovery (the prevailing historiography today)
- Newton and Leibniz developed calculus independently. Newton was earlier; Leibniz published first.[1]
- Royal Society report (1712)
- Newton was the first inventor; it was implied that Leibniz had drawn on Newton's ideas.[1]
- View emphasising the Kerala school
- Infinite series, a core ingredient of calculus, were known in India two centuries earlier.[2]
Connections
Sources
- Book (1980). Philosophers at War: The Quarrel between Newton and Leibniz. Cambridge University Press
- Book (2011). The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics. Princeton University Press, 3rd edition
Search the literature
Look for scholarly work on this topic in other indexes:
Cite this page
Athena contributors. (2026). Calculus. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/kalkulus/
@misc{athena_kalkulus,
title = {Calculus},
author = {{Athena contributors}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/kalkulus/}},
note = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}Added: September 27, 2026 · Last changed: September 27, 2026 · Page history