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S'està carregant… The Calculus Wars: Newton, Leibniz, and the Greatest Mathematical Clash of All Time (2006)de Jason Socrates Bardi
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Apunta't a LibraryThing per saber si aquest llibre et pot agradar. No hi ha cap discussió a Converses sobre aquesta obra. The Calculus Wars is the history of the dispute between Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz, concerning the invention of calculus. The dispute itself occurred some 20 years after Leibniz first published a paper on calculus, which in turn, was some years after Newton invented his version of calculus, but did not publish it then. The book was very interesting and well researched. Bardi worked hard to create a history of this dispute that was both fair to the two great mathematicians involved and intelligible to the average reader who does not understand calculus. He carefully develops the personality of both parties and left me with sympathy for both. I do have two small complaints. First, I do wish he would have provided footnotes for some of the material. While most references should be easy to locate (since most of Newton's and Leibniz's writings are published), specific references would make the job easier. Second, and this is because I do understand calculus, I wish he had included even a brief explanation of the differences between Newton's and Leibniz's calculus. Was Newton's fluxions the same as Leibniz's differentials? How did the notation differ? I fully understand why he did not go into detail about this, but some detail even as an appendix would have been nice. Overall, I'm very pleased to have read this book as it clarifies many references in other math histories to the Newton/Leibniz debate. This is the story of the two genius scientists who, among numerous other achievements and interests, independently invent calculus. When followers of Newton publicly accuse Leibniz of plagiarism, courtesy, objectivity, and justice is replaced by pride, politics, and emotion. In the chapters leading up to the clash, we learn about their two very different personalities. Newton, the reclusive genius, has had much recognition and received many honours, starting within his lifetime. Leibniz, the polymath, thrived on interaction with other scientists, published a great deal, and invented, but is relatively obscure, even today. The book is also a fascinating read of how scientists made their way in England and Europe in the late 17th and early 18th century. You won't have to know anything about calculus to appreciate this book. Right off the bat, there is very little in the way of technical math stuff in this book. It is simply a story about two brilliant mathematicians and the interesting times they lived in. For those not aware, the calculus is mainly an algebraic method of analyzing curves, notably finding the equation of a line tangent to a curve as well as calculating the area under a curve. Anyway, the reason there is a book about this is because of a feud that blew up later in the lives of Herr Leibniz and Sir Newton. In a nutshell, Newton had come up with his concept of fluxions literally decades before Leibniz but these ideas were never published. Leibniz had the opportunity to browse some pamphlets and books that Newton had given to his friend, one John Wallis. Did Leibniz read something there that inspired his methods of differential calculus? During their earlier years as peers, the two recognized each other as distinguished and preeminent theoretical mathematicians. Later on, a fervent supporter of Newton, with a certain amount of aid from Newton himself, publicly charged Leibniz with plagiarism literally decades after Leibniz published his ideas. These were charges that could never be cleared completely and denigrated into an ugly scene, each trying desperately to discredit the other. There are some very odd quinkydinks that almost imply that the two were fated to interact with each other, such as Leibniz' patron and sponsor in Hanover going on to become King of England because his grandmother was the daughter of King James II or some such (I have a tidy history of Britain from the library on my TBR pile to tidy up my fuzzy royalty data.) There are some editing errors throughout, the annoying stuff that you know slipped through a spellcheck program that nobody noticed. Things like 'an' instead of 'and', a sentence like '...and France went to war with German.', and even a paragraph that ends in midsentence that fortunately was in the bibliographic epilogue. Along with some odd phrase choices and metaphors here and there, it still is an interesting slice of history well worth reading. One can tell that Sardi is a scientist first and a writer second. While the “war” between Liebniz and Newton over who invented calculus was interesting nonetheless, the sequencing was erratic and the ham-handed segues were glaringly obvious. The reader will have to play attention when Sardi goes back and forth in time and subject, but the overall tale is well researched and competently put forth. The other noticeable misstep here is that the whole book is about math and science, but there are very little explanatory diagrams or formulas. Sense ressenyes | afegeix-hi una ressenya
Now regarded as the bane of many college students' existence, calculus was one of the most important mathematical innovations of the seventeenth century. But a dispute over its discovery sewed the seeds of discontent between two of the greatest scientific giants of all time -- Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Today Newton and Leibniz are generally considered the twin independent inventors of calculus, and they are both credited with giving mathematics its greatest push forward since the time of the Greeks. Had they known each other under different circumstances, they might have been friends. But in their own lifetimes, the joint glory of calculus was not enough for either and each declared war against the other, openly and in secret. This long and bitter dispute has been swept under the carpet by historians -- perhaps because it reveals Newton and Leibniz in their worst light -- but The Calculus Wars tells the full story in narrative form for the first time. This vibrant and gripping scientific potboiler ultimately exposes how these twin mathematical giants were brilliant, proud, at times mad and, in the end, completely human.entific potboiler ultimately exposes how these twin mathematical giants were brilliant, proud, at times mad and, in the end, completely human.entific potboiler ultimately exposes how these twin mathematical giants were brilliant, proud, at times mad and, in the end, completely human.entific potboiler ultimately exposes how these twin mathematical giants were brilliant, proud, at times mad and, in the end, completely human. No s'han trobat descripcions de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — S'està carregant… GèneresClassificació Decimal de Dewey (DDC)515.09Natural sciences and mathematics Mathematics Analysis AnalysisLCC (Clas. Bibl. Congrés EUA)ValoracióMitjana:
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Unfortunately, it is obviously written by an American, with a style/viewpoint I found a little patronising towards Europeans and 17th/18th century. It could have been redeemed by a little more detail on the calculus underpinning the discussion.
Overall, I was happy to finish the book, but not in a good way. ( )