Equivalence and Priority: Newton versus Leibniz: Including Leibniz's Unpublished Manuscripts on the Principia

by Domenico Bertoloni Meli

Overview

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. Bertolini Meli here examines several hitherto unpublished manuscripts in Leibniz's hand illustrating his first reading of and reaction to Newton's Principia.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 presented 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, also included 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. This unique work will interest all historians of science and philosophy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198501435
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/02/1997
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Jesus College, Cambridge

Table of Contents

The Newton-Leibniz Dispute on the World System, Domenico BertoloniGeneral IntroductionLeibniz versus Hooke: Establishing the Code of BehaviorLeibniz versus Newton: Violating the Code of BehaviourPlan of the Work and Historiograph ObservationsPart One: The Background of the Newton-Leibniz Dispute1. Astronomy and the Keplerian Program2. Vortices and Fluids: From Gravity to Elasticity3. Geometry and Calculus4. Mathematical Representations of Motion and ForcePart Two: The Transformation of a Word System: From the Principia Mathematica to the Tentamen5. The Private Itinerary6. PublicationPart Three: The Fortunes of Leibniz's Response to Newton7. Reflections on Leibniz's Theory and Its Development8. A Reappraisal of Newton's Itinerary9. The Reception of Newtonian and Leibnizian TheoriesAppendix One: Texts and CommentariesAppendix Two: Chronological OutlineAppendix Three: List of Manuscript SourcesAbbreviationsIndex

Editorial Reviews

"With the publication of Domenico Bertoloni Meli's remarkable analysis of Leibniz's earliest thoughts on the Principia, historians can concentrate more precisely on the development of techniques underlying Leibniz's published work on orbital mechanics after 1689. . . . exhilarating material. The accompanying explanations to the (Latin) notes and essays in the appendix are concise and clear, and the author should be congratulated." —The Times Higher Education Supplement

"Bertoloni's book provides a very detailed and deep analysis of Leibniz's calculus and dynamics by focusing on a consistent and important set of previously unknown manuscripts..." —Medical Book Review

"The general purpose of this important book is 'to examine the competing world systems put forward by Newton and Leibniz in the late 1680's and their reception up to the beginning of the eighteenth century.' In particular the author documents the formation of Leibniz's ideas, using a series of previously unknown manuscripts which are published and analysed for the first time." —Mathematical Reviews

From the Publisher