30
votes
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What does it mean by "d-ism of Leibniz" and "dotage of Newton" in simple English?
It is a play of words by Charles Babbage. Deism was a religious belief or rather a movement promoting the idea that God exists but it does not interfere with whatever happens in this world. This old ...
- 3,634
26
votes
Accepted
How did Isaac Newton write the integral symbol?
Newton used both vertical bars ($\overset{|}{x}$) and rectangles ($\boxed{x}$) to denote integrals in his Quadratura curvarum published in 1704.
Here, the bar notation is used on the bottom of page 9 ...
- 376
19
votes
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Inscriptions on Newton's tomb
Another picture of the scroll, but taken from a different angle, appeared in: Greg Priest, Silvia De Toffoli, Paula Findlen, "Tools of Reason: The Practice of Scientific Diagramming from ...
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11
votes
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Why is there little scholarship devoted to Book II of Newton's Principia?
It can certainly be agreed that Book 2 of the Principia has received less attention than Books 1 and 3. According to I B Cohen (1999):--
"Book 2 of the Principia differs from books 1 and 3 in a ...
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11
votes
Accepted
What mathematics did Isaac Newton learn at school?
Newton studied at school and at the university, but he mostly taught himself by reading. (At his secondary school he certainly learned Latin,
Greek, the Bible and some arithmetic. In the universities,...
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10
votes
What is the difference between Calculus of Newton and that of Leibniz?
You should definitely take a look at the second chapter of Arnold's Huygens & Barrow, Newton & Hooke. The late Prof. Arnold summarized therein the difference between Newton's approach to ...
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10
votes
Was English mathematics behind Europe by many years because of Newton's notation?
Several factors come together to suggest that the idea that "English mathematics [was] ever significantly behind -- by say 50 years, 100 years, or even centuries" (i.e. in the post-Newtonian 18th or ...
- 4,215
9
votes
What is the difference between Calculus of Newton and that of Leibniz?
Beyond the issue of notation, Newton experimented with a number of foundational approaches. One of the earliest ones involved infinitesimals, whereas later he shied away from them because of ...
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9
votes
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Was Newton's method of finding derivatives of his fluents based on applying the chain rule?
The answer is more of a yes, but with many buts. Newton did not have the modern concept of function, it was introduced by Dirichlet in the 19th century, or even its predecessor as assignment of values ...
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9
votes
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Is Newton going to be the new Aristotle?
I suggest that the baseless suggestion offered in this question can best be answered by Einstein's own words about Newton, written in 1919.
The background was the now-well-known eclipse expedition ...
- 4,215
9
votes
How did the idea of a formal derivation emerge?
The motivation for applying derivatives to polynomials over general fields is their use in detecting multiple roots: if $K$ is a general field, a polynomial $f(x)$ in $K[x]$ has no repeated roots (...
- 4,992
8
votes
What does it mean by "d-ism of Leibniz" and "dotage of Newton" in simple English?
The first answer is excellent but just for context on the actual math:
Newton notation for derivative of f(x):
$ \dot f(x) $
Leibniz notation for derivative of f(x):
$ \frac {df}{dx} $
Newton's ...
- 81
7
votes
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How did Newton and Kepler (actually) do it?
Goldstine, A History of Numerical Analysis from the 16th through the 19th Century (1977), describes Kepler's approach (p. 47), which may be found in Kepler's Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae (1618), ...
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7
votes
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Is there anything written by Newton's roommate Wilkins about him?
Part of the problem may be that Newton's roommate's name is spelled as Wickins or Wickens, not to be confused with bishop John Wilkins, Newton's older contemporary. Since they did live in the same ...
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7
votes
Accepted
How close was Hooke to developing a comprehensive system of gravity?
Hooke was not close (as far as we can judge from his surviving work) to what Newton accomplished. Yes, he conjectured the inverse square law. He understood correctly some simple qualitative features ...
- 47.1k
7
votes
What problem led to the discovery of Calculus?
You remember incorrectly. Calculus was found by Archimedes, Gregory of Saint-Vincent, Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, Pascal, Cavalieri, Fermat, Barrow,
Wallis, Brounker, Huygens, Leibniz, J. Gregory, N. ...
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7
votes
How did Isaac Newton write the integral symbol?
The section II.4 Integral Calculus in Analysis by Its History by E. Hairer and E. Wanner begins with quotations, one of them from a letter by Newton:
Newton, letter to Keill, April 20, 1714:
And ...
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6
votes
Allegations of Newton's untruthfulness
The article cited by the questioner incorrectly represents the limited amount of historical evidence that we have about the incident described. When the article is compared with the evidence, it can ...
- 4,215
6
votes
Accepted
Allegations of Newton's untruthfulness
A comprehensive scientific biography of Newton is "Never at rest" by Westfall.
He tells the story, and expresses no doubt about it. The article in Wikipedia is an example of sloppy writing.
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6
votes
Why is calculus missing from Newton's Principia?
Although this question and the answers now have some age to them, I suggest that it's important not to overlook the mythical character of the assumption that underlies this question. The question ...
- 4,215
6
votes
Difficulty in Understanding Newton's Principia
It would probably not have been easy for a contemporary mathematician to formulate a direct critique that Newton was difficult to understand without also 'reflecting' unwanted discredit on the skill ...
- 4,215
6
votes
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How did Newton prove his third law of motion?
It was not "the experiment". First, Newton considered "his" laws to be "common knowledge" already "abundantly" confirmed and accepted by experts (he names ...
- 72.2k
6
votes
Accepted
When did the word "Real number" begin to be used as an official terminology to refer to both rational and irrational numbers?
It is hard to say what "official" means exactly, it is not like there was a bureau of terminological standards. But "real numbers", "real values" and "real ...
- 72.2k
6
votes
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Ideas about the speed of light between Galileo and Romer?
I do not think it is a virtue to make unsupported assertions just because we happen to believe them now. Following available evidence does not makes one not smart or disappointing, that is how science ...
- 72.2k
6
votes
Accepted
Are there any direct comments by Isaac Newton on Leibniz's living force / vis-viva?
The controversy was not so much about the tension between vis viva and mechanics, as about what is the "true" quantity of motion, vis viva or momentum, and what is the "metaphysical&...
- 72.2k
6
votes
Third law of motion before Newton?
Much early thinking about what became the laws of motion in the Principia, including the third law, can be found in Newton's "Waste Book". It is a notebook started in 1665, and it is ...
- 4,215
6
votes
What are the various manuscripts/transmissions of Newton's book "The Method of Fluxions"?
The question asks for chains of transmission and for manuscripts antecedent to Newton's eventual book(s) on fluxions.
So I would recommend, as the first places to start, the 8-volume series of '...
- 4,215
5
votes
Best books/papers on Newton and his mathematical physics
The standard book about Newton's life is Never at Rest by Richard Westfall.
On my opinion it is a very good book, it covers his life in great detail, and gives a general overview of his activities (...
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5
votes
How did Newton and Kepler (actually) do it?
Kepler's Proofs will get you started on your quest.
This article mentions 987 folio pages of arithmetic; you should also look at the tables and methods of Copernicus.
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5
votes
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Was Newton's successful calculation of precession of equinoxes a fluke?
Numerical agreement was (at best) a fluke; quoth e.g. A. Berry, A short history of astronomy (1898, p. 235):
The amount of the precession as
calculated by Newton did as a matter of fact agree ...
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