One of the most famous geniuses in the field of mathematics and philosophy in the history of mankind is a German named Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Leibniz is a German mathematician and philosopher who lived during the 17th century (Simmons 32). He revolutionized the historical development of the field of philosophy and mathematics through his major contributions. He is widely known as the developer of the integral and differential calculus and he developed it independently with Isaac Newton. He is also known for some of the mathematical equations such as the Leibniz notation, Transcendental Law of Homogeneity and Law of Continuity.
He was born on July 1, 2646 at the town of Leipzig, Germany. He originated from a pious Lutheran family and well-educated parents. His father was a professor at University of Leipzig where he also got is bachelors and master’s degree in Philosophy. In this school, he met some of the people who revolutionized science and mathematics such as Galileo, Thomas Hobbes, Rene Descartes and Francis Bacon. Leibniz also finished Doctor of Law in the University of Altdorf. He wrote his first book entitled De Arte Combinatoria (On the Combinatorial art) at the age of 19. The first part of his book was is thesis in philosophy during his undergraduate years.
One of the main contributions of Leibniz is the foundations of the integral and the differential calculus. He shared the discovery of infinitesimal calculus with Sir Isaac Newton. There is a distinction between their discoveries and it could be recognized from the notations and the methods of their equation formation (Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy np). Both Leibniz and Newton discovered integral and differential calculus alone and they did not worked together. Integral and differential calculus is a branch of mathematics which is concerned with the limits of the functions as well as integrations and the differentiations.
This contribution of Leibniz influenced the development of a whole new concept in mathematics which widens the understanding of nature and other sectors of science. The main influence of calculus to human life could be summarized into two reasons (The Story of Mathematics np). First, integral and differential calculus introduced basic concepts of mathematics and could be used to study all types of changing events within a controlled setting. Leibniz, together with Newton, introduced a mathematical concept which could help quantify many aspects of the changing nature (Simmons 32). Secondly, integral and differential calculus develop methods of engineering problem solving and important scientific sense to solve practical problems of nature.
Another main contribution of Leibniz is the creation of the binary numeral system. It is also known as the base-2 system which is the main counting or data system used in the modern computers as well as the other related devices (Levey 49). The binary system is used in order to provide methods of counting and processing large quantities of data into the computer. In general, the binary system of numeral system only used two digits which are 0 and 1. The binary system could be converted easily into other types of numeral system such as octal, decimal and hexadecimal. These types of numeral system gave birth to the other processing methods used in computer systems (Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy np).
Aside from the calculus and the binary system, Leibniz also contributed several important concepts in mathematics such as the notion of function which is used in trigonometric and logarithmic tables. In general, Leibniz generalized some of the modern concepts of mathematics which are taught in the schools and universities (Levey 49). During the 17th century, Leibniz also became the first to explicitly denote some of the mathematical and geometrical concepts which could be derived from the equations and figures of the curve such as the ordinate, tangent, chord, abscissa and the perpendicular lines (The Story of Mathematics np). These concepts were also used by Leibniz in order to derive concepts and equations used to describe integral and differential calculus.
Leibniz could also be considered as one of the most important logician during the period of enlightenment. He could be considered as a logician which could be in-line with Aristotle, Augustus de Morgan and George Boole. However, Leibniz did not publish any formal publications regarding logic during his lifetime. He only enunciated his logic through his drafts of his works such as his woks of the principal properties of disjunction, negation, conjunction, identity, set inclusion and the empty set (Broad 62). Leibniz also developed some of the concepts in physics such as the concept of momentum and kinetic energy. However, it contradicted some of the concepts developed by Newton. The concepts of Newton are the universally accepted one even in the modern times.
Leibniz contributed many ideas in the field of Mathematics, Philosophy and Physics. Although his contributions are revolutionary, the one developed by Newton was accepted by the scientific community and still used in the modern times. One reason is that the method of Newton is easier to use. However, his contribution such as the binary system is the one that changed the world (Broad 62). Without it, people could not develop fast computing machines such as the computers and the other related devices.
Works Cited:
Broad, C. D. Leibniz: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1975. Print.
Levey, Samuel. Leibniz on Mathematics and the Actually Infinite Division of Matter. Philosophical Review, 107(1998): 49–96. Print.
Simmons, Alison. Changing the Cartesian Mind: Leibniz on Sensation, Representation and Consciousness. Philosophical Review, 110(2001): 31–75. Print.
Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. 2007. Web. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/leibniz/>
The Story of Mathematics. 17th Century Mathematics. N.d. Web. <http://www.storyofmathematics.com/17th_leibniz.html>
