Equivalence and priority : Newton versus Leibniz : including Leibniz's unpublished manuscripts on the Principia
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Equivalence and priority : Newton versus Leibniz : including Leibniz's unpublished manuscripts on the Principia
Clarendon Press , Oxford University Press, 1993
Available at 13 libraries
Note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Leibniz's dispute with Newton over the physico-mathematical theories expounded in the "Principia Mathematica" (1687) have long been identified as a crucial episode in the history of science. Bertoloni Meli examines several hitherto unpublished manuscripts in Leibniz's hand, illustrating his first reading of and reaction to Newton's "Principia". Six of the most important manuscripts are here edited for the first time. Contrary to Leibniz's own claims, this new evidence shows that he had studied Newton's masterpiece before publishing "An Essay on the Causes of Celestial Motions". This article, representing his response to Newton, is included here in English translation. Meli analyzes the important implications of this episode on a variety of themes ranging from priority claims to the mathematization of nature in the 17th century. Besides providing a careful study of Leibniz's style and strategy, the author examines how our perception of Newton's achievement is affected and the reception of the rival theories by the mathematical community around 1700.
Table of Contents
- Part I The background of the Newton-Leibniz dispute: astronomy and the Keplerian programme
- vortices and fluids - from gravity to elasticity
- geometry and the calculus
- mathematical representation of motion and force. Part II The transformation of a world system - from the "Principia Mathematica" to the "Tentamen": the private itinerary
- publication. Part III The fortunes of Leibniz's response to Newton
- a reappraisal of Newton's itinerary
- the reception of Newtonian and Leibnizian theories.
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