August 24, 2000

Calculus!

The invention of Calculus must be considered one of

the greatest achievements of mankind. Though it, all of
dynamical physics, electricity, magnitism, and most of the
other scientific aspects of our life, have been derived and ex-
plained. Because of it, many ancient superstitions have been
debunked. Because of its success, the rigor with which it
was created has become the lingua franca of all of science
— and science has profited from these demands. The results
have been profound; what is more, the results continue to
flood our days with new discoveries with no end in sight.

! Isaac Newton

By some accounts Isaac Newton (1643

- 1727) was born on Christmas Day in
1642. This is accounted for by calen-
dar reform issues. Born in the small
town of Woolsthorpe, Newton was the
only son of a local yeoman and Han-
nah Ayscough. His father died three
months before his birth. He was a
tiny, frail baby and was not expected
to survive his first year. His mother,
concerned about her welfare, married
again, this time to the well-to-do min-
ister Barnabas Smith. When Isaac was
just three, Hannah her baby with his
grandmother, partly at the insistence of Rev. Smith. Smith, who was
of advanced years, had a previous family and Hannah fully expected to
become his widow within due course. However, plans do not always
work out, and by Smith, she bore a a son and two daughters. It was
only after nine more years, when Smith passed away, that Isaac was
reunited with his mother. However, relations between the two were
permanently strained. Indeed, his well noted psychotic tendencies have
been ascribed to this traumatic event. He never married.
Newton was sent to school at Grantham, where he resided with the
local apothecary, Mr. Clark. It was there that he began his fascination
1 °2000,
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The Calculus 2

with pharaceutical remedies. He learned to make his own remedies

and often made them for others. Thoughout his life Newton was a
hypochondriac. He was gifted with his hands making sundials, kites
with lanterns and other rather well crafted devises. Though he loved
books, he was a self-confessed inattentive student. However he would
study just before examinations and score better grades than his peers.
He was mostly a solitary child, given to self-study. He kept various
notebooks in which he copied long passages from books he was reading.
He also kept something of a diary in which he maintained a very private
life, confessing at times contempt and loathing for various people. He
even wished death upon another. Though his mother tried hard to make
a farmer of the young Newton, it was not to be. After a second visit
to Hannah, his teacher Stokes at last convinced her to send him to
Cambridge, some fifty miles to the north. He was not popular among
the help on the farm, and they were delighted when he left.
At this time, the Aristotelian view held sway in physics. His syl-
logism based rigidity distorted the world and confined thinkers from a
realistic fact based model of the universe. So compelled were scientists
to the Aristotelian straight jacket, scientists could hardly perform exper-
iments and make conjecture on their basis. Aristotle’s dominance left
little room for alternative ideas. Aristotle’s dogma was like a religion
to his followers, passed down from one generation to the next. The
legacy of ancient Greece was still very powerful.
When Newton arrived in Cambridge, he found a backwater town
with beggars and thieves everywhere. Most people, about five thousand
in all, were illiterate. About 3000 students attended Cambridge at the
time. The school itself was academically backward. Newton arrived
with 15 pounds tuition and 10 pounds expense money. Though Hannah
received about 700 pounds annually, she kept her son at near poverty.
As one of the lower class students, he had to take a job as a subsizar.
This meant that he was a servant to more privileged students, running
errands, cleaning bedrooms, and emptying bedpans. He appreaciated
thriftiness and earned money by loaning others the little he had.
The greatest scientist of the second millennium began college humbly.
As he was about two years older than his class, he felt more out
of place than he might have. In consequence, he isolated himself from
other students. His beliefs were deeply puritanical, and like, for example
John Napier, he distrusted Catholics his whole life. This, in spite of the
fact that the end of Cromwell’s regime brought a general enlightenment.
Having bought a prism at a local Stourbridge Fair, he began his
first experiments in optics in 1664. Eventually, he published his re-
sults fourty years later, in 1704. The prevailing theory of the day was
The Calculus 3

Descartes’s ether theory. In his experiments, Newton corrrectly assessed

the nature of color.
In 1665, Cambridge was closed for two years on account of the
black plague. Newton returned home to Woolsthorpe. It was there he
began his studies that would lead to his first mathematical and scientific
breakthoughs. Though Newton himself reportedly recalled that his ideas
of universal gravitation attraction was inspired by the falling of an
apple from a tree, this story is generally regarded as a fabrication. It is
important to recognize that although Newton had remarkable insights
and ideas, it took him many years to refine them and many more to
publish them. Newton was quite sensitive to any form of criticism and
more so to any predations of his character.
In 1664, Newton took his examinations and his examiner was Isaac
Barrow. Barrow, it is believed, fully understood the potential of the
young student before him and passed Newton in spite of the fact that
he had not read Euclid. Overall, Newton did little by way of formal
study, graduating eventually but with an undistinguised career.

Newton, as we know, laid the foundation for differential

and integral calculus. This alone would establish him as
one of the great thinkers of all time. That he developed
calculus in the service of the theory of gravitation and motion
make it all the more remarkable. Even his work on optics
would place him among the greatest scientists. Newton, like
perhaps only Archimedes and Aristotle before him’, was a
person off the scale of normal genius. He was one whose
“shaped the categories of the human intellect”. It is not
possible to measure Newton in any ordinary sense.

If he had not invented calculus – as he is ascribed to have done – he

would still be one of the great thinkers of all time.
His career included contributions to:

² Optics – central activity of the scientific revolution. (Descartes

also made contributions here.) He denied the homogeneity of light,
stating that it was complex and heterogeneous.
² Planetary Motion. Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathemat-
ica 1687. The fundamental work of modern science. It includes
planetary motion and Universal Gravitation.
The Calculus 4

In the opening sections of the Principia Newton had so generalized

and clarified Galileo’s ideas on motion that ever since we refer to them
as “Newton’s laws of motion.”
Then Newton went on to combine these laws with Kepler’s laws
and with Huygens law of centripetal motion to establish the unifying
principle in the universe that any two particles attract each other ac-
cording as the inverse square law of distance.
This had been anticipated by Robert Hooke as well as Edmund
Halley. But Hooke’s concepts were intuitive. Newton convinced the
world by carrying off the mathematics needed for the proof.
In 1693 Newton has a nervous breakdown, after which he substan-
tially retired from research.
He was also Master of the Mint following the publication of the
Principia. He took an active interest in his duties and became the
scourge of counterfeiters, sending many to the gallows.
In 1703, he was elected president of the Royal Society and assumed
the role of patriarch of English science. In 1705 (08?) he was knighted,
the first scientist so honored.
Over the years he had furious debates with other scientists, notably
Robert Hooke and John Flamsteed.
It is generally agreed that Newton developed calculus before Got-
tfried Wilhelm Leibnitz seriously pursued mathematics. It is also
agreed that Leibnitz developed it independently. Leibnitz published in
1684.
A fracas of priority of discovery developed into a small war. New-
ton was drawn in; and once his temper was triggered by accusations of
dishonesty, his anger was beyond constraint. Leibnitz’s conduct though
not pleasant, paled beside that of Newton. Said his assistant Whiston:
Newton was of the most fearful, cautious and suspicious
temper that I ever knew.
Newton’s mathematical works include:
² power series – binomial theorem
² fluxions – calculus and the fundamental theorem
² applications of fluxions to extrema problems, area problems
² algorithms for the use of calculus
² a concept of limit.
The Calculus 5

1.1 Newton’s mathematics

Newton’s work on the binomial theorem is nothing short of remark-

able. He begins, as did Wallis, by making area computations of the
curves ! = (1 ¡ "" )! , and tabulating the results. He noticed the Pascal
triangle and reconstructed the formula
µ ¶
# #(# ¡ 1) % % % (# ¡ $ + 1)
=
$ $!

for positive integers #.

R p
Now to get to compute #" 1 ¡ "" &", i.e. # = 1'2, he simply applied
this relation with # = 1'2. This of course generated an infinite series
because the terms do not terminate.
Next he generalized to function of the form ! = (( + )")! for any #.
This gave him the general binomial theorem – but not a proof.
He was able to determine the power series for ln(1+") by integrating
the series for (1 + ")!! , written according as the binomial series. In
modern notation, we have
µ ¶ µ ¶ µ ¶
!! ¡1 ¡1 " ¡1 $
(1 + ") = 1+ "+ " + " + ¢¢¢
1 2 3
= 1 ¡ " + "" ¡ "$ + ¢ ¢ ¢ %

Now integrate to get the series

1 1
log(1 + ") = " ¡ "$ + "% ¡ ¢ ¢ ¢ %
3 5
With this he was able to compute logarithms of the number 1 § 0%1,
1+§0%2, 1§0%01, 1+§0%02 to 50 places of accuracy. Then using identities
such as
1%2 £ 1%2
2=
0%8 £ 0%9
he was able to compute the logarithm of many numbers.
Next he worked out the power series for ! = arcsin ", and ultimately
found the power series for ! = sin " using his method of affected equa-
tions. The reason for this apparent reversal of what we would think to
be the order of discovery is that
Z " p p
! = arcsin " = 2 1 ¡ "" &" ¡ " 1 ¡ ""
#

Thus the binomial series and integration term-by-term could be applied.

The Calculus 6

The confirmations he achieved using his power series method jus-

tified in his mind the ultimate correctness of this procedure. But con-
vergence?
Newton was unconcerned with questions of convergence.
Newton developed algorithms for calculating fluxions defined in
modern terms as
"_ = fluxion
" = "(*) = fluent
to solve the problems:

² Find the speed of notion of any fluent.

² Given the speed find the length of space at any time *.

He assumes a form + (", !) = 0 and produces the differential equation

&+ &" &+ &!
+ = 0,
&" &* &! &*

using the procedure of Hudde. His method builds into it the product
rule for derivatives.
He justifies this rule by defining the moment
" + -",
_

substituting and resolving the terms àla Fermat. Note the term - is
viewed as infinitely small.
At this time infinitesimals have been completely accepted by some
while wholy rejected by other. That is, the infinitesimal is a real object,
not a potentiality or convenience of expression!!!!
There is, I must emphasize, no theory of any of this infinitesimal
analysis. Mathematicians are “flying about by the seat of their pants”,
just doing it, and not all worried about the grand Aristotelian/Euclidean
plan.
To resolve the “length of space” question, Newton reverses the pro-
cedure if possible. This is an antiderivative approach. Otherwise he
resorts to power series.
Example. Consider the equation
!_ " = "_ !_ + "" "_
The Calculus 7

is resolved as
µ ¶"
!_ !_
= + ""
"_ "_
r
!_ 1 1
= § + "" %
"_ 2 4

Applying the binomial theorem we get for the plus root

!_
= 1 + "" ¡ "& + 2"' ¡ 5"( + ¢ ¢ ¢ %
"_
Hence one solution is
1 1 2
! = " + "$ ¡ "% + ") ¢ ¢ ¢ %
3 5 7
The other is determined similarly.
Newton discovered a method for finding roots of equations which is
still used today.
Among the curves worked on by Newton were the Cartesian ovals,
the Cissoid, the Conchoid, the Cycloid, the Epicycloid, the Epitrochoid,
the Hypocycloid, the Hypotrochoid, the Kappa curve and the Serpentine.
Newton gave a classification of cubic curves.
Newton gives methods of finding extrema problems normals, tangents
and areas.
The concept of limit appears in the Principia as the “ultimate ratio
of evanescent quantities” which is similar to our own notion of limit of
a difference quotient. He goes to some effort to assuage the great bulk
of mathematicians still wedded to Greek geometry and thought.
By studying the finest work of the time Newton was led to impor-
tant new syntheses. To develop them fully he acquired a mastery of
analytical techniques unsurpassed in his time. Thus he was able to de-
rive simple and general methods compared with thin the modern sen
se.This was an enormous advantage.
The Calculus 8

" Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz

On July 1, 1646, Leibniz (1646 - 1716)

was born into a pious Lutheran fam-
ily. He was educated at the Nicolai
School. Though his father died when
he was just six years old, much of his
education came from his father’s li-
brary. At the age of fifteen, he entered
the University of Leipzig as a law stu-
dent. It was at the University he en-
countered for the first time the great
masters of science such as Galileao,
Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, and
René Descates. Among his goals, even
at an early age and extending though-
out his adult life,
was to “reconcile” these thinkers with Aristotle and the Scholastics.
He was a deep thinker from the onset of his career. His baccalau-
reate thesis of 1663, De Principio Individui (”On the Principle of the
Individual”), emphasized the existential value of the individual, who
is not to be explained either by matter alone or by form alone but
rather by his whole being (entitate tota). He received his doctorate in
1667. His original thesis idea was ambitious, to work out an algebra
of human thought, an attempt to symbolize thought and to work out a
combinatorial calculus.
Though a philosopher and mathematician his entire life, he believed
that academics should be founded in a wide variety of arts. Toward this
end, he worked on hydraulic presses, windmills, lamps, submarines,
clocks, and a variety of mechanical devices. He also experimented
with phosphorus, developed a water pump run by windmills, which
aided in the exploitation of the mines of the Harz Mountains. Indeed
he frequently worked these mines as an engineer from 1680 to 1685.
In 1672, on a diplomatic mission to Paris, Leibnitz met and for the
first time studied mathematics seriously with Huygens. As a diplomat
he made two trips to London, in 1673 and 1676, where it is possible
he had access to Newton’s manuscript. Only ten years later he began
to publish short pieces on calculus.
By 1685, Leibniz had worked out the foundations of both integral
and differential calculus. With this discovery, he ceased to consider
time and space as substances–another step closer to monadology. He
began to develop the notion that the concepts of extension and motion
contained an element of the imaginary, so that the basic laws of motion
The Calculus 9

could not be discovered merely from a study of their nature.

Always conscious of the presentation of an idea, he developed the
present day notation for the differential and integral calculus. He never
thought of the derivative as a limit.
Leibniz founded the Berlin Academy in 1700 and was its first
president. He became more and more a recluse in his later years.

2.1 Leibnitz’ Mathematics

His first investigations were with the harmonic triangles . .

!
!

! !
" "

! ! !
$ ' $

! ! ! !
& !" !" &

..
.
From this he noticed that
.#$ = .#!!%$ ¡ .#%$*!
.#$ = .#%$!! ¡ .#!!%$!! %

This means that sums along 45" diagonals of . are sums of differences.
So for example
µ ¶ µ ¶
1 1 1 1 1 1
+ + + ¢¢¢ = 1¡ + ¡ + ¢ ¢ ¢ = 1%
2 6 12 2 2 3

Also,
µ ¶ µ ¶ µ ¶
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
+ + + ¢¢¢ = ¡ + ¡ + ¡ + ¢¢¢
3 12 30 2 6 6 12 12 20
1 1 1
= + + + ¢¢¢
2 6µ 12 ¶
1 1 1
¡ + + + ¢¢¢
6 12 20
µ ¶
1 1
= 1¡ 1¡ = %
2 2
The Calculus 10

Multiplying by 3 we sum the pyramidal numbers

1 1 3
1+ + + ¢¢¢ = %
4 10 2

The importance of these ideas rested with their applications of

summing differences in geometry. That is, he sees the possibility
Z Z
& !=! &! = !

where Z
! = !# + !! + ¢ ¢ ¢ + !!

&! = !# ¡ !#!!
X Z
%
&! = &! = !
R
Leibnitz interpreted the term & ! as area
Z
& ! = ! &"
R
(i.e. &
&" ! = ! ). This gives in principle his fundamental theorem.
By 1673 he was still struggling to develop a good notation for his
calculus and his first calculations were
R clumsy. On 21 November 1675
he wrote
R a manuscript using the + (") &" notation for the first time.
The symbol was an elongated S, which of course stood for sum.
In the same manuscript the product rule for differentiation is given.
The quotient rule first appeared two years later, in July 1677. Leibnitz
was very conscious of notation. He recognizes two separate branches.
differentia and summa
Leibnitz’ clarity of differencing was applied to the difference trian-
gle, which is the one we use today. From it he derives the sum, product
and quotient rules, at first erroneously. It is
&("!) = " &! + ! &"
and not
&("!) = &" &!
as he originally thought.
In 1684 he gives the power rules for powers and roots. The chain
rule is transparent from his notation
&("! ) = #"!!! &"
p (p!
&( ! "' ) = "'!( &"
)
The Calculus 11

In 1684 he solves a problem posed by Debeaune to Descartes in

1639, that being to find a curve whose subtangent is a constant:
&"
! =( or ( &! = ! &"
&!
Leibnitz takes &" = 1 and gets ! = $ &!; that is, the ordinates are propor-
tional to their increments. So the curve is logarithmic (“exponential”
in modern terms).
In 1695, he computes the differential of / = ! " where ! and " are
variables. With Jacques Bernoulli’s suggestion he solves this by taking
the logarithm of both sides.
log / = " log !
&/ &!
= " + log !&"%
/ !
Hence
&(! " ) = "!"!! &! + !" log !&"

Leibnitz develops a fundamental theorem: One can find a curve /

such that &/'&" = ! . It is given by
Z (
! &" = /())%
#

By 1690 Leibnitz has discovered most ideas in current calculus text

books.
Leibnitz was more interested in solving differential equations than
finding areas. Among them he derives and solves the familiar differ-
ential equation for the sine function. He developed the separation of
variables method.
Among the curves worked on by Leibniz were the Astroid, the
Catenary, the Cycloid, the Epicycloid, the Epitrochoid, the Hypocycloid,
the Hypotrochoid, the semi cubical parabola and the Tractrix.

# Summary

Our modern calculus resembles that of Leibnitz far more than New-
ton. Possibly because of Newton’s reluctance to publish Leibnitz’s
version became better known on the continent. Leibnitz’s calculus was
somewhat easier to comprehend and apply. This cost English mathe-
matics almost a century of isolation from the continent and the resulting
progress implied.
The Calculus 12

$ First Calculus Texts:

² L’Hospital, Analyse des Infiniment Petits four l’intelligence des

lignes courbes, 1696 He makes fundamental statements in the begin-
ning of his text that make clear that he assumes infinitesimals are real
objects, though arbitrarily small.
² Humphrey Ditton (1675-1715) An Institution of Fluxions, 1706
² Charles Hayes (1678-1760) A Treatise on Fluxions, 1706.