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 →I 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
Similar quotes
What, then, is this blue sky, which certainly does exist, and which veils from us the stars during the day?
Camille FlammarionRead
Anybody who has been seriously engaged in scientific work of any kind realizes that over the entrance to the gates of the temple of science are written the words: 'Ye must have faith.'
Max PlanckRead
You may object that by speaking of simplicity and beauty I am introducing aesthetic criteria of truth, and I frankly admit that I am strongly attracted by the simplicity and beauty of mathematical schemes which nature presents us. You must have felt this too: the almost frightening simplicity and wholeness of the relationship, which nature suddenly spreads out before us.
Werner HeisenbergRead
As scientists, we step on the shoulders of science, building on the work that has come before us - aiming to inspire a new generation of young scientists to continue once we are gone.
Stephen HawkingRead
Genomics are about individuals. It's about what's specific to you, not your siblings, not your parents - each of us is totally unique. We will only see that uniqueness by drilling down to the genetic code.
Craig VenterRead
Wherever we look at the living biota … discontinuities are overwhelmingly frequent…The discontinuities are even more striking in the fossil record. New species usually appear in the fossil record suddenly, not connected with their ancestors by a series of intermediates.
Ernst MayrRead