History of Calculus Essay - 1186 Words

History of Calculus The history of calculus falls into several distinct time periods, most notably the ancient, medieval, and modern periods. The ancient period introduced some of the ideas of integral calculus, but does not seem to have developed these ideas in a rigorous or systematic way. Calculating volumes and areas, the basic function of integral calculus, can be traced back to the Egyptian Moscow papyrus (c. 1800 BC), in which an Egyptian successfully calculated the volume of a pyramidal frustum.[1][2] From the school of Greek mathematics, Eudoxus (c. 408#8722;355 BC) used the method of exhaustion, which prefigures the concept of the limit, to calculate areas and volumes while Archimedes (c. 287#8722;212 BC) developed this idea†¦show more content†¦In Europe, the second half of the 17th century was a time of major innovation. Calculus provided a new opportunity in mathematical physics to solve long-standing problems. Several mathematicians contributed to these breakthroughs, notably John Wallis and Isaac Barrow. James Gregory proved a special case of the second fundamental theorem of calculus in AD 1668. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was originally accused of plagiarism of Sir Isaac Newtons unpublished works, but is now regarded as an independent inventor and contributor towards calculus. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was originally accused of plagiarism of Sir Isaac Newtons unpublished works, but is now regarded as an independent inventor and contributor towards calculus. Leibniz and Newton pulled these ideas together into a coherent whole and they are usually credited with the independent and nearly simultaneous invention of calculus. Newton was the first to apply calculus to general physics and Leibniz developed much of the notation used in calculus today; he often spent days determining appropriate symbols for concepts. The basic insight that both Newton and Leibniz had was the fundamental theorem of calculus. When Newton and Leibniz first published their results, there was greatShow MoreRelatedCalculus As A Part Of Modern Mathematics Education1708 Words   |  7 PagesCalculus (from Latin calculus, literally small pebble used for counting)[1] is the mathematical study of change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape and algebra is the study of operations and their application to solving equations. 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