[HM] Christian Wolff [was: Books about differential calculus 1708-1720]
Julio Gonzalez Cabillon (jgc@adinet.com.uy)
Sat, 24 Jul 1999 14:42:13 -0300
It may be worth pointing out that Christian von Wolff (1679-1754) took
his master's degree in Leipzig, in 1703. His dissertation was published
as a 24-page booklet on differential calculus: "Dissertatio algebraica
De algorithmo infinitesimali differentiali, quam ... publico Eruditorum
examini ... submittet M. Christianus Wolfius" [Lipsiae: Typis Christiani,
1704].
Please note the MODERN use of the word "algorithm" in the title of Wolff's
thesis - which is, as far as I know, (one of) the earliest use of this
important term in a *title page*! Obviously enough, Wolff was inspired
by Leibniz even in this 'petit' detail.
Later, he systematized and popularised Leibniz's philosophy with success
to the extent that his harvest was the ongoing philosophy in Germany for
a long time.
Julio Gonzalez Cabillon