History of Calculus

Development
First steps were taken by Greek mathematicians, when Archimedes (around 225BC)
constructed an infinite sequence of triangles starting with one of area A and continually
adding further triangles between those already there and the parabola to estimate the area of a
parabola. This is the first known infinite series sum (2, pg 1)
Archimedes used the method of exhaustion to find an approximation to the area of a circle,
an early example of integration (2, pg 1)
Late 16th and early 17th century, scholars known as natural philosophers were trying to use
math to understand the universe (1, pg 42)
The most famous natural philosopher was Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) who blended
observation and experimentation with mathematical analysis (1, pg 42)
Kepler (1571-1630) used conic sections to describe the solar system, in that planets moved
around the sun in elliptical orbits, and he formulated how fast each planet moved (1, pg 42)
Harriot (1560-1621) developed algebra and applied math to optics and navigation (1, pg 43)
Descartes brought together algebra and geometry, and studied comets and light (1, pg 43)
All of these ideas and studies brought velocities and infinite divisibility of space and time
into the forefront (1, pg 43)
Equally important was the questions of finding tangents to curves and areas of figures (1, pg
43)
Cavalieri (1598-1647) worked with the principle of indivisibles, that is cutting a planar
region into infinite sets of line segments or cutting solid figures into an infinite set of planar
regions (1, pg 43)
Cavalieri showed that the integral of x^n from 0 to a was a^(n+1) / (n+1) by showing a
number of values of n and inference (2, pg 2)
Roverval was more rigorous, and looked at the area between a curve and a line as being made
up of an infinite number of narrow rectangular strips, and approximated the integral of x^m
from 0 to 1 (2, pg 2)
Fermat investigated max and min by considering when the tangent to the curve was parallel
to the x axis (2, pg 2)
This idea of estimation by Cavalieri was also done by Descartes (method of finding normals
in 1637 (2, pg 2) ) and Fermat (1, pg 43)
Barrow gave a method of tangents to a curve where the tangent is given as the limit of a
chord as the points approach each other (2, pg 3)
Torricelli and Barrow considered the problem of motion with variable speed. The inverse
relationship of the integral and derivative were familiar to both (2, pg 3)
The idea of estimation led to development of calculus by Newton (who was influenced by
Descartes and DeBeaune (2, pg 2) ) and Liebniz (1, pg 43)
Newton wrote a tract in 1666 on fluxions with horizontal and vertical velocities, or
derivatives, and in discusses antidifferentiation (2, pg 3)
Newton calculated the series expansion for sin, cos and exponential functions, although they
are now called Taylor or Maclaurin series (2, pg 3)
Newton (1642-1727) and Leibniz (1646-1716) independently discovered a general method
for finding areas and volumes (1, pg 43)

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 Newton emphasized flowing quantities, and fluxions, which were their rates of flow (1, pg
44)
Liebniz used the idea of infinitesimal quantities, and defined the differential of x to be dx,
which is the change in x in an infinitesimal small amount of time (1, pg 44)
Crucial was the idea that one could develop a kind of recipe for computing these changes, a
method of calculation called calculus (1, pg 44)
Leibniz emphasized the importance of being able to solve problems without having to think,
just apply the rules (1, pg 44)
Leibniz used the notations of d and the integral symbol in 1675 (2, pg 4)
Johann Bernoulli (1667-1748) taught calculus to a L'Hospital by writing a series of letters,
which was the first calculus book, 'authored' by L'Hospital
Euler (1707-1783) wrote on every aspect of math and physics, among other subjects. He
developed the calculus into a powerful instrument and applied it to all sorts of complicated
problems. He wrote textbooks and emphasized the idea of a function in his precalculus book
(1, pg 45)
Laplace (1749-1827) wrote books of celestial mechanics and probability (1, pg 46)
Lagrange (1736-1813) worked on all math areas, but his most important book focused on
mechanics/physics

The Limit (3, Limits)

Every major concept of calculus is defined in terms of limits
It is a product of the late 18th are early 19th century
Limits were first needed for the resolution of the four paradoxes of Zeno
Fermat developed an algebraic method for finding tangents, and let E stand for a small
number and then discarded it, essentially taking the limit as E tends to 0
The need for limits was not recognized in find areas of bounded regions
Newton failed to acknowledge the role of the limit
Newton recognized the limit must be the starting point to the all these problems
Lagrange reformulated mechanics in terms of calculus, and made a heroic flawed effort to
make calculus purely algebraic by eliminating limits

The Derivative (3, Derivatives)

The origin resides in tangent problems
Greeks originated problems of motion and velocity
Galilei established the principle that math was the indispensable tool for studying motion and
science
Ideas of tangents reappeared as part of analytic geometry in the 17t century
Newton developed fluxional calculus, where motion was the fundamental basis for curves,
tangents and related calculus phenomena

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The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus (3, Fundamental Theorem)
There is a faint connection between tangents and quadratures in Fermat and Descartes
description of curves in analytic geometry
Gregory came close by considering the area between a curve and the axis, rewriting this as a
new function, then finding the tangent line to this new curve
Barrow (1663-1669) displayed an understanding that tangents and quadratures were inverse
operations
Newton used the Fundamental Theorem to find exact values for many areas, and began to
think in algebraic terms
Lebiniz claimed that in finding the area represented by the integral of y, one should find a
curve Y so that y=dY (Y is the antiderivative)
There was quite a dispute between Leibniz and Newton over ownership

The Integral (3, Integrals)

Originated with quadrature and cubature problems, finding area and volume
Eudoxus is credited with the method of exhaustion, a technique approximating the area of a
region with an increasing number of polygons
Archimedes used the method of exhaustion to find the quadrature of the parabola
During medieval times calculus idea were applied to motion problems
Fermat devised a technique for finding areas under higher parabolas
St Vincent determined the area under the hyperbola xy=1 by using narrow inscribed and
circumscribed rectangles of different widths
The term integral was coined by Johann Bernoulli, a consequence of Newton and Leibniz
Fundamental Theorem of Calculus they were regarded as reverse differentiation
Cauchy defined the integral of any continuous function on interval [a,b] to be the limit of the
sums of thin rectangular areas
Reimann generalized Cauchys definition of the integral to arbitrary functions on the interval
[a,b]

1. Math Through The Ages by Berlinghoff

2. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/HistTopics/The_rise_of_calculus.html
3. http://occawlonline.pearsoned.com/bookbind/pubbooks/thomas_awl/chapter1/medialib/custom3/topics.htm
(Limits, Integrals, Derivatives, Fundamental Theorem)
4. http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/~cm1993/maths/mm2217/hc.htm

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