We live in the best of all possible worlds
Gottfried LeibnizRead
Taking mathematics from the beginning of the world to the time when Newton lived, what he had done was much the better half.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Leibniz emphasizes Newton's significant contributions to mathematics as foundational and transformative.
Gottfried Leibniz's quote reflects on the evolution of mathematics up to the time of Isaac Newton, suggesting that Newton's work represents a pivotal and superior progression in the field. This highlights not only Newton's brilliance but also positions his discoveries as crucial milestones that elevated the discipline of mathematics to new heights.
Themes
MathematicsNewtonContributionsScienceEvolution
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the history of science, one might quote Leibniz to highlight the impact of Newton's work.
More from Gottfried Leibniz
All quotes βI am so in favor of the actual infinite that instead of admitting that Nature abhors it, as is commonly said, I hold that Nature makes frequent use of it everywhere, in order to show more effectively the perfections of its Author.
Gottfried LeibnizRead
It is unworthy of excellent men to lose hours like slaves in the labor of calculation which could be relegated to anyone else if machines were used.
Gottfried LeibnizRead
According to their [Newton and his followers] doctrine, God Almighty wants to wind up his watch from time to time: otherwise it would cease to move. He had not, it seems, sufficient foresight to make it a perpetual motion. Nay, the machine of God's making, so imperfect, according to these gentlemen; that he is obliged to clean it now and then by an extraordinary concourse, and even to mend it, as clockmaker mends his work.
Gottfried LeibnizRead
..This is why the ultimate reason of things must lie in a necessary substance, in which the differentiation of the changes only exists eminently as in their source; and this is what we call God.
Gottfried LeibnizRead
...a distinction must be made between true and false ideas, and that too much rein must not be given to a man's imagination under pretext of its being a clear and distinct intellection.
Gottfried LeibnizRead
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