The following outline 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 ( la, alphabetum cogitationum humanarum) 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 piec ...

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 conce ...

Mathematics

Calculus Calculus, originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the calculus of infinitesimals", is the mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithm ...

General Leibniz rule In calculus, the general Leibniz rule, named after Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, generalizes the product rule (which is also known as "Leibniz's rule"). It states that if f and g are n-times differentiable functions, then the product fg is also n-t ...

* Leibniz formula for *

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

Philosophy

Best of all possible worlds The phrase "the best of all possible worlds" (french: Le meilleur des mondes possibles; german: Die beste aller möglichen Welten) was coined by the German polymath and Enlightenment philosopher Gottfried Leibniz in his 1710 work ''Essais de Th ...

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 ''x'' ...

Pre-established harmony Gottfried Leibniz's theory of pre-established harmony (french: harmonie préétablie) is a philosophical theory about causation under which every " substance" affects only itself, but all the substances (both bodies and minds) in the world never ...

Principle of sufficient reason The principle of sufficient reason states that everything must have a 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 Arthur Schopenhau ...

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'' (french: Discours de métaphysique, 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 ...

, ( text at wikisource) *

Monadology The ''Monadology'' (french: La Monadologie, 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 Dur ...

, ( text at wikisource) *

New Essays on Human Understanding ''New Essays on Human Understanding'' (french: Nouveaux essais sur l'entendement humain) is a chapter-by-chapter rebuttal by Gottfried Leibniz of John Locke's major work '' An Essay Concerning Human Understanding''. It is one of only two full-leng ...

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 term ...

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's translation
at leibniz-translations.com

Journals focused on Leibniz studies

The Leibniz Review ''The Leibniz Review'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal devoted to scholarly examination of Gottfried Leibniz's thought and work. It publishes contemporary articles and reviews, as well as original Leibniz texts. ''The Leibniz Review'' is spons ...

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. As of 2020, 96 non-university research insti ...

* Leibniz College, affiliated with the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

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 * Leibniz Supercomputing Center, ( more details in German version) * Leibniz University Hannover * ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics * Leibniz Schools in Germany

Prizes named after Leibniz

* Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize. It is regarded as the highest German award. * Leibniz Ring awarded by the Hannover Press Club. * Berlin Leibniz Medal 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 (german: Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften), abbreviated BBAW, is the official academic society for the natural sciences and humanities for the German states of Berlin a ...

. * Leibniz Medal (Mainz) awarded by the Mainz Academy of Sciences and Literature.

Publications about Leibniz

Maria Rosa Antognazza Maria Rosa Antognazza (born 1964) is an Italian-British philosopher who serves as professor of philosophy at King's College London. Academic career Antognazza was educated at the Catholic University of Milan. She has held research fellowships ...

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

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

, 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" Recipients * 1959 Marie Boas Hall, ''Robert Boyle and Seventeenth-Century Chemistry'' (New Yor ...

)

References

External links

Webpage at the Leibniz Association

Webpage at the Mainz Research Alliance

Leibniz Association

Leibniz on Wikisource
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