4 ms·
Ask HN: How Was the Calculus Discovered?
What kind of thinking could lead to the discovery of what (to me) looks like a wide variety of "tricks" to preform to an equation.
- tuatoru 5y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_calculus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_calculus excerpt:- > Newton came to calculus as part of his investigations in physics and geometry. He viewed calculus as the scientific description of the generation of motion and magnitudes. In comparison, Leibniz focused on the tangent problem and came to believe that calculus was a metaphysical explanation of change. Importantly, the core of their insight was the formalization of the inverse properties between the integral and the differential of a function.
- _448 5y agoHere is a very interesting video on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN--erHStqA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN--erHStqA
- max_ 5y agoWatch "The Birth of Calculus"[0] [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObPg3ki9GOI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObPg3ki9GOI
- cfj 5y agoI can highly recommend the book Infinite Powers by Steven Strogatz to anyone who wants a non-technical introduction to calculus and its history. Great book.