Let’s start with Isaac Newton. Isaac Newton attended the University of Cambridge. In 1666 he was sent home due to a plague, thus resulting in free time on his own. Because of this, he came up with what we know now as calculus. Newton didn’t call it calculus then, his term for it was “The Method of Fluxions”. To proof his work, he relied on concrete reality, limits, and geometric proofing. As he was a very conservative individual, Isaac Newton refused to publicize his works to the world and kept his findings …show more content…
Unlike Newton, Leibniz publicized his work. He published many versions of his calculus. In 1684, he published his first works of Differential Calculus. Then a couple years later in 1686, he published his explanation for Integral Calculus. Because people had never known this form of mathematics, many believed Leibniz had created a new form of mathematics. Thus, the people were about to embark the longest controversy ever.
A year later, Newton published his book “Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica.” His book, he explains his three laws of motion, universal gravitation, and derivation of Kepler’s laws of planetary motion. To back up is physical theories in his book; he uses his new creation, calculus. But because Leibniz published his findings and work first, people gave him the credit for his finding of calculus.
Although Leibniz and Newton showed their proof rather differently, their work was mainly based on infinitesimals. Newton then went on a campaign to prove that Leibniz had plagiarized his work. As he went on to campaign more and more, he eventually started getting more of the credit for the creation of calculus.
In 1715, the royal society officially proclaimed Isaac Newton as the sole inventor of calculus. A year later in 1716, Leibniz passed away with very little credit.
Today, many people still argue who invented calculus first. I personally think Isaac Newton was the sole discoverer of calculus, just didn’t get the credit due to his conversation of his work. But who’s to say they both didn’t discover