The following

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is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz: Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz (1 July 1646 .S. 21 June– 14 November 1716); German polymath, philosopher logician, mathematician. Developed differential and integral calculus at about the same time and independently of Isaac Newton. Leibniz earned his keep as a lawyer, diplomat, librarian, and genealogist for the House of Hanover, and contributed to diverse areas. His impact continues to reverberate, especially his original contributions in logic and binary representations.

Achievements and contributions

Devices

* Leibniz calculator

Logic

Alphabet of human thought The alphabet of human thought () is a concept originally proposed by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz that provides a universal way to represent and analyze ideas and relationships by breaking down their component pieces. All ideas are compounded from a ...

Calculus ratiocinator The ''calculus ratiocinator'' is a theoretical universal logical calculation framework, a concept described in the writings of Gottfried Leibniz, usually paired with his more frequently mentioned ''characteristica universalis'', a universal conc ...

Mathematics

Calculus Calculus is the mathematics, mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithmetic operations. Originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the ...

General Leibniz rule In calculus, the general Leibniz rule, named after Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, generalizes the product rule for the derivative of the product of two (which is also known as "Leibniz's rule"). It states that if f and g are -times differentiable fu ...

* Leibniz formula for *

Leibniz integral rule In calculus, the Leibniz integral rule for differentiation under the integral sign, named after Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, states that for an integral of the form \int_^ f(x,t)\,dt, where -\infty < a(x), b(x) < \infty and the integrands ...

Philosophy

Best of all possible worlds The phrase "the best of all possible worlds" (; ) was coined by the German polymath and Enlightenment philosopher Gottfried Leibniz in his 1710 work '' Essais de Théodicée sur la bonté de Dieu, la liberté de l'homme et l'origine du mal'' ...

Characteristica universalis The Latin term ''characteristica universalis'', commonly interpreted as ''universal characteristic'', or ''universal character'' in English, is a universal and formal language imagined by Gottfried Leibniz able to express mathematical, scienti ...

Identity of indiscernibles The identity of indiscernibles is an ontological principle that states that there cannot be separate objects or entities that have all their properties in common. That is, entities ''x'' and ''y'' are identical if every predicate possessed by ...

* Pre-established harmony *

Principle of sufficient reason The principle of sufficient reason states that everything must have a Reason (argument), reason or a cause. The principle was articulated and made prominent by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, with many antecedents, and was further used and developed by ...

Physics

Personal life

* Leibniz's political views * Leibniz's religious views

Family

Major works by Leibniz

De Arte Combinatoria The ''Dissertatio de arte combinatoria'' ("Dissertation on the Art of Combinations" or "On the Combinatorial Art") is an early work by Gottfried Leibniz published in 1666 in Leipzig. It is an extended version of his first doctoral dissertation, wr ...

Discourse on Metaphysics The ''Discourse on Metaphysics'' (, 1686) is a short treatise by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in which he develops a philosophy concerning physical substance, motion and resistance of bodies, and God's role within the universe. It is one of the few ...

, ( text at wikisource) *

Monadology The ''Monadology'' (, 1714) is one of Gottfried Leibniz's best known works of his later philosophy. It is a short text which presents, in some 90 paragraphs, a metaphysics of simple substances, or '' monads''. Text During his last stay in V ...

, ( text at wikisource) *

New Essays on Human Understanding ''New Essays on Human Understanding'' () is a chapter-by-chapter rebuttal by Gottfried Leibniz of John Locke's major work '' An Essay Concerning Human Understanding'' (1689). It is one of only two full-length works by Leibniz (the other being the ...

Nova Methodus pro Maximis et Minimis "Nova Methodus pro Maximis et Minimis" is the first published work on the subject of calculus. It was published by Gottfried Leibniz in the ''Acta Eruditorum'' in October 1684. It is considered to be the birth of infinitesimal calculus. Full tit ...

Protogaea ''Protogaea'' is a work by Gottfried Leibniz on geology and natural history. Unpublished in his lifetime, but made known by Johann Georg von Eckhart in 1719, it was conceived as a preface to his incomplete history of the House of Brunswick. Lif ...

Théodicée (from French: ''Essays of Theodicy on the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil''), more simply known as , is a book of philosophy by the German polymath Gottfried Leibniz. The book, published in 1710, introduced the te ...

Manuscript archives and translations of Leibniz's works

* Leibniz Archive (Hannover) at th
Leibniz Research Center - Hannover
* Leibniz Archive (Potsdam) at th
Brandenburg Academy of Humanities and Sciences
* Leibniz Archive (Munster)
Leibniz-Forschungsstelle Münster digital edition
* Leibniz Archive (Berlin)
digital edition
* Donald Rutherford's translation
at UCSD
*

Lloyd Strickland Lloyd Strickland (born 1973) is a British philosopher, intellectual historian, Leibniz scholar, and translator of early modern philosophical texts. He is Professor of Philosophy and Intellectual History at Manchester Metropolitan University. Re ...

's translation
at leibniz-translations.com

Journals focused on Leibniz studies

* The Leibniz Review *

Studia Leibnitiana ''Studia Leibnitiana'' is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1969. It publishes scholarly articles on philosophy and the history of science of the early modern period, especially related to the German philosopher and polymath ...

Organizations named after Leibniz

Leibniz Association The Leibniz Association (German: ''Leibniz-Gemeinschaft'' or ''Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz'') is a union of German non-university research institutes from various disciplines. Funding and Structure As of 2020, 96 non-u ...

* , affiliated with the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

Leibniz Institute of European History The Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG) in Mainz, Germany, is an independent, public research institute that carries out and promotes historical research on the foundations of Europe in the early and late Modern period. Though autonomous i ...

* Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research *

Leibniz Society of North America The Leibniz Society of North America is a philosophical society whose purpose is to promote the study of the philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. The society publishes The Leibniz Review, organizes an annual conference, sponsors group sessions ...

* Leibniz Supercomputing Center *

Leibniz University Hannover Leibniz University Hannover (), also known as the University of Hannover, is a public university, public research university located in Hanover, Germany. Founded on 2 May 1831 as Higher Vocational School, the university has undergone six period ...

* ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics *

Prizes named after Leibniz

* Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize. It is regarded as the highest German award. * awarded by the Hannover Press Club. * originally awarded by the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences; currently awarded by the

Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (), abbreviated BBAW, is the official academic society for the natural sciences and humanities for the German states of Berlin and Brandenburg. Housed in three locations in and around Ber ...

. * awarded by the Mainz Academy of Sciences and Literature.

Publications about Leibniz

Maria Rosa Antognazza Maria Rosa Antognazza (10 September 1964 – 28 March 2023) was an Italian-British philosopher, who was professor of philosophy at King's College London. Life and career Antognazza was educated at the Catholic University of Milan. She held rese ...

's 2009 Leibniz biography is a major recent resource.Antognazza, M. R. (2009). ''Leibniz: an intellectual biography'', (Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, winner of the 2010

Pfizer Award The Pfizer Award is awarded annually by the History of Science Society "in recognition of an outstanding book dealing with the history of science" that was "published in English during a period of three calendar years immediately preceding the ...

)

References

External links

Webpage at the Leibniz Association

Leibniz on Wikisource
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