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calculus Calculus, originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the calculus of infinitesimals", 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 generalizati ...
and
mathematical analysis Analysis is the branch of mathematics dealing with continuous functions, limits, and related theories, such as differentiation, integration, measure, infinite sequences, series, and analytic functions. These theories are usually studied ...
.


500BC to 1600

* 5th century BC - The
Zeno's paradoxes Zeno's paradoxes are a set of philosophical problems generally thought to have been devised by Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea (c. 490–430 BC) to support Parmenides' doctrine that contrary to the evidence of one's senses, the belief in plural ...
, * 5th century BC -
Antiphon An antiphon ( Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are the Psalms. Their form was favored by St Ambrose and they feature prominentl ...
attempts to
square the circle Squaring the circle is a problem in geometry first proposed in Greek mathematics. It is the challenge of constructing a square with the area of a circle by using only a finite number of steps with a compass and straightedge. The difficult ...
, * 5th century BC -
Democritus Democritus (; el, Δημόκριτος, ''Dēmókritos'', meaning "chosen of the people"; – ) was an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from Abdera, primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the universe. No ...
finds the
volume Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). ...
of
cone A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines con ...
is 1/3 of volume of
cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an ...
, * 4th century BC -
Eudoxus of Cnidus Eudoxus of Cnidus (; grc, Εὔδοξος ὁ Κνίδιος, ''Eúdoxos ho Knídios''; ) was an ancient Greek astronomer, mathematician, scholar, and student of Archytas and Plato. All of his original works are lost, though some fragments are ...
develops the
method of exhaustion The method of exhaustion (; ) is a method of finding the area of a shape by inscribing inside it a sequence of polygons whose areas converge to the area of the containing shape. If the sequence is correctly constructed, the difference in are ...
, * 3rd century BC -
Archimedes Archimedes of Syracuse (;; ) was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse in Sicily. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientis ...
displays
geometric series In mathematics, a geometric series is the sum of an infinite number of terms that have a constant ratio between successive terms. For example, the series :\frac \,+\, \frac \,+\, \frac \,+\, \frac \,+\, \cdots is geometric, because each suc ...
in ''
The Quadrature of the Parabola ''Quadrature of the Parabola'' ( el, Τετραγωνισμὸς παραβολῆς) is a treatise on geometry, written by Archimedes in the 3rd century BC and addressed to his Alexandrian acquaintance Dositheus. It contains 24 propositions rega ...
.'' Archimedes also discovers a method which is similar to differential calculus. * 3rd century BC -
Archimedes Archimedes of Syracuse (;; ) was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse in Sicily. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientis ...
develops a concept of the indivisibles—a precursor to
infinitesimals In mathematics, an infinitesimal number is a quantity that is closer to zero than any standard real number, but that is not zero. The word ''infinitesimal'' comes from a 17th-century Modern Latin coinage ''infinitesimus'', which originally refe ...
—allowing him to solve several problems using methods now termed as integral
calculus Calculus, originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the calculus of infinitesimals", 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 generalizati ...
. Archimedes also derives several
formulae In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a '' chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betw ...
for determining the
area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an op ...
and volume of various solids including
sphere A sphere () is a geometrical object that is a three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is the set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three-dimensional space.. That given point is the c ...
,
cone A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines con ...
,
paraboloid In geometry, a paraboloid is a quadric surface that has exactly one axis of symmetry and no center of symmetry. The term "paraboloid" is derived from parabola, which refers to a conic section that has a similar property of symmetry. Every plan ...
and
hyperboloid In geometry, a hyperboloid of revolution, sometimes called a circular hyperboloid, is the surface generated by rotating a hyperbola around one of its principal axes. A hyperboloid is the surface obtained from a hyperboloid of revolution by def ...
. * 3rd century -
Liu Hui Liu Hui () was a Chinese mathematician who published a commentary in 263 CE on ''Jiu Zhang Suan Shu ( The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art).'' He was a descendant of the Marquis of Zixiang of the Eastern Han dynasty and lived in the state ...
rediscovers the method of exhaustion in order to find the
area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an op ...
of a
circle A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is cons ...
. * 4th century - The
Pappus's centroid theorem In mathematics, Pappus's centroid theorem (also known as the Guldinus theorem, Pappus–Guldinus theorem or Pappus's theorem) is either of two related theorems dealing with the surface areas and volumes of surfaces and solids of revolution. The ...
, * 5th century -
Zu Chongzhi Zu Chongzhi (; 429–500 AD), courtesy name Wenyuan (), was a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, politician, inventor, and writer during the Liu Song and Southern Qi dynasties. He was most notable for calculating pi as between 3.1415926 and 3 ...
established a method that would later be called
Cavalieri's principle In geometry, Cavalieri's principle, a modern implementation of the method of indivisibles, named after Bonaventura Cavalieri, is as follows: * 2-dimensional case: Suppose two regions in a plane are included between two parallel lines in that p ...
to find the volume of a
sphere A sphere () is a geometrical object that is a three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is the set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three-dimensional space.. That given point is the c ...
. * 600 - Liu Zhuo is the first person to use second-order interpolation for computing the positions of the sun and the moon. * 665 -
Brahmagupta Brahmagupta ( – ) was an Indian mathematician and astronomer. He is the author of two early works on mathematics and astronomy: the '' Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta'' (BSS, "correctly established doctrine of Brahma", dated 628), a theoretical tr ...
discovers a second order Taylor interpolation for \sin (x+\epsilon), * 862 - The
Banu Musa Banu or BANU may refer to: * Banu (name) * Banu (Arabic), Arabic word for "the sons of" or "children of" * Banu (makeup artist), an Indian makeup artist * Banu Chichek, a character in the ''Book of Dede Korkut'' * Bulgarian Agrarian National ...
brothers write the ''"Book on the Measurement of Plane and Spherical Figures"'', * 9th century - Thābit ibn Qurra discusses the quadrature of the
parabola In mathematics, a parabola is a plane curve which is mirror-symmetrical and is approximately U-shaped. It fits several superficially different mathematical descriptions, which can all be proved to define exactly the same curves. One descri ...
and the volume of different types of
conic sections In mathematics, a conic section, quadratic curve or conic is a curve obtained as the intersection of the surface of a cone with a plane. The three types of conic section are the hyperbola, the parabola, and the ellipse; the circle is a spe ...
. * 12th century -
Bhāskara II Bhāskara II (c. 1114–1185), also known as Bhāskarāchārya ("Bhāskara, the teacher"), and as Bhāskara II to avoid confusion with Bhāskara I, was an Indian mathematician and astronomer. From verses, in his main work, Siddhānta Shiroma ...
discovers a rule equivalent to
Rolle's theorem In calculus, Rolle's theorem or Rolle's lemma essentially states that any real-valued differentiable function that attains equal values at two distinct points must have at least one stationary point somewhere between them—that is, a point whe ...
for \sin x, * 14th century -
Nicole Oresme Nicole Oresme (; c. 1320–1325 – 11 July 1382), also known as Nicolas Oresme, Nicholas Oresme, or Nicolas d'Oresme, was a French philosopher of the later Middle Ages. He wrote influential works on economics, mathematics, physics, astrology an ...
proves of the
divergence In vector calculus, divergence is a vector operator that operates on a vector field, producing a scalar field giving the quantity of the vector field's source at each point. More technically, the divergence represents the volume density of ...
of the harmonic series, * 14th century - Madhava discovers the
power series In mathematics, a power series (in one variable) is an infinite series of the form \sum_^\infty a_n \left(x - c\right)^n = a_0 + a_1 (x - c) + a_2 (x - c)^2 + \dots where ''an'' represents the coefficient of the ''n''th term and ''c'' is a con ...
expansion for \sin x, \cos x, \arctan x and \pi/4 This theory is now well known in the Western world as the
Taylor series In mathematics, the Taylor series or Taylor expansion of a function is an infinite sum of terms that are expressed in terms of the function's derivatives at a single point. For most common functions, the function and the sum of its Taylor ser ...
or infinite series. * 14th century - Parameshvara discovers a third order Taylor interpolation for \sin (x+\epsilon), * 1445 -
Nicholas of Cusa Nicholas of Cusa (1401 – 11 August 1464), also referred to as Nicholas of Kues and Nicolaus Cusanus (), was a German Catholic cardinal, philosopher, theologian, jurist, mathematician, and astronomer. One of the first German proponents of Re ...
attempts to square the circle, * 1501 -
Nilakantha Somayaji Keļallur Nilakantha Somayaji (14 June 1444 – 1544), also referred to as Keļallur Comatiri, was a major mathematician and astronomer of the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics. One of his most influential works was the comprehens ...
writes the ''
Tantrasamgraha Tantrasamgraha, or Tantrasangraha, (literally, ''A Compilation of the System'') is an important astronomical treatise written by Nilakantha Somayaji, an astronomer/mathematician belonging to the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics. The ...
'', which contains the Madhava's discoveries, * 1548 -
Francesco Maurolico Francesco Maurolico (Latin: ''Franciscus Maurolycus''; Italian: ''Francesco Maurolico''; gr, Φραγκίσκος Μαυρόλυκος, 16 September 1494 - 21/22 July 1575) was a mathematician and astronomer from Sicily. He made contributions t ...
attempted to calculate the
barycenter In astronomy, the barycenter (or barycentre; ) is the center of mass of two or more bodies that orbit one another and is the point about which the bodies orbit. A barycenter is a dynamical point, not a physical object. It is an important con ...
of various bodies (pyramid, paraboloid, etc.), * 1550 - Jyeshtadeva writes the '' Yuktibhāṣā'', a commentary to Nilakantha's ''Tantrasamgraha'', * 1560 -
Sankara Variar Shankara Variyar (; .) was an astronomer-mathematician of the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics. His family were employed as temple-assistants in the temple at near modern Ottapalam. Mathematical lineage He was taught mainly by Nilaka ...
writes the '' Kriyakramakari'', * 1565 -
Federico Commandino Federico Commandino (1509 – 5 September 1575) was an Italian humanist and mathematician. Born in Urbino, he studied at Padua and at Ferrara, where he received his doctorate in medicine. He was most famous for his central role as translat ...
publishes ''De centro Gravitati'', * 1588 - Commandino's translation of Pappus' ''Collectio'' gets published, * 1593 -
François Viète François Viète, Seigneur de la Bigotière ( la, Franciscus Vieta; 1540 – 23 February 1603), commonly know by his mononym, Vieta, was a French mathematician whose work on new algebra was an important step towards modern algebra, due to i ...
discovers the first infinite product in the history of mathematics,


17th century

* 1606 -
Luca Valerio Luca Valerio (1553–1618) was an Italian mathematician. He developed ways to find volumes and centers of gravity of solid bodies using the methods of Archimedes. He corresponded with Galileo Galilei and was a member of the Accademia dei Lincei ...
applies methods of Archimedes to find volumes and centres of gravity of solid bodies, * 1609 -
Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws ...
computes the integral \int_0^\theta \sin x\ dx = 1-\cos \theta, * 1611 -
Thomas Harriot Thomas Harriot (; – 2 July 1621), also spelled Harriott, Hariot or Heriot, was an English astronomer, mathematician, ethnographer and translator to whom the theory of refraction is attributed. Thomas Harriot was also recognized for his con ...
discovers an interpolation formula similar to Newton's interpolation formula, * 1615 - Johannes Kepler publishes ''Nova stereometria doliorum'', * 1620 -
Grégoire de Saint-Vincent Grégoire de Saint-Vincent - in latin : Gregorius a Sancto Vincentio, in dutch : Gregorius van St-Vincent - (8 September 1584 Bruges – 5 June 1667 Ghent) was a Flemish Jesuit and mathematician. He is remembered for his work on quadrature of th ...
discovers that the area under a
hyperbola In mathematics, a hyperbola (; pl. hyperbolas or hyperbolae ; adj. hyperbolic ) is a type of smooth curve lying in a plane, defined by its geometric properties or by equations for which it is the solution set. A hyperbola has two pieces, ca ...
represented a
logarithm In mathematics, the logarithm is the inverse function to exponentiation. That means the logarithm of a number  to the base  is the exponent to which must be raised, to produce . For example, since , the ''logarithm base'' 10 ...
, * 1624 - Henry Briggs publishes ''Arithmetica Logarithmica'', * 1629 -
Pierre de Fermat Pierre de Fermat (; between 31 October and 6 December 1607 – 12 January 1665) was a French mathematician who is given credit for early developments that led to infinitesimal calculus, including his technique of adequality. In particular, he ...
discovers his
method Method ( grc, μέθοδος, methodos) literally means a pursuit of knowledge, investigation, mode of prosecuting such inquiry, or system. In recent centuries it more often means a prescribed process for completing a task. It may refer to: *Scien ...
of maxima and minima, precursor of the
derivative In mathematics, the derivative of a function of a real variable measures the sensitivity to change of the function value (output value) with respect to a change in its argument (input value). Derivatives are a fundamental tool of calculus. ...
concept, * 1634 - Gilles de Roberval shows that the area under a
cycloid In geometry, a cycloid is the curve traced by a point on a circle as it rolls along a straight line without slipping. A cycloid is a specific form of trochoid and is an example of a roulette, a curve generated by a curve rolling on another cu ...
is three times the area of its generating circle, * 1635 -
Bonaventura Cavalieri Bonaventura Francesco Cavalieri ( la, Bonaventura Cavalerius; 1598 – 30 November 1647) was an Italian mathematician and a Jesuate. He is known for his work on the problems of optics and motion, work on indivisibles, the precursors of in ...
publishes ''Geometria Indivisibilibus'', * 1637 -
René Descartes René Descartes ( or ; ; Latinized: Renatus Cartesius; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Ma ...
publishes ''
La Géométrie ''La Géométrie'' was published in 1637 as an appendix to ''Discours de la méthode'' ('' Discourse on the Method''), written by René Descartes. In the ''Discourse'', he presents his method for obtaining clarity on any subject. ''La Géométr ...
'', * 1638 -
Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He ...
publishes ''
Two New Sciences The ''Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences'' ( it, Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche intorno a due nuove scienze ) published in 1638 was Galileo Galilei's final book and a scientific testament covering muc ...
'', * 1644 -
Evangelista Torricelli Evangelista Torricelli ( , also , ; 15 October 160825 October 1647) was an Italian physicist and mathematician, and a student of Galileo. He is best known for his invention of the barometer, but is also known for his advances in optics and wo ...
publishes ''Opera geometrica'', * 1644 - Fermat's methods of maxima and minima published by Pierre Hérigone, * 1647 - Cavalieri computes the
integral In mathematics, an integral assigns numbers to functions in a way that describes displacement, area, volume, and other concepts that arise by combining infinitesimal data. The process of finding integrals is called integration. Along with ...
\int_0^a x^\ dx=\fraca^, * 1647 -
Grégoire de Saint-Vincent Grégoire de Saint-Vincent - in latin : Gregorius a Sancto Vincentio, in dutch : Gregorius van St-Vincent - (8 September 1584 Bruges – 5 June 1667 Ghent) was a Flemish Jesuit and mathematician. He is remembered for his work on quadrature of th ...
publishes ''Opus Geometricum'', * 1650 -
Pietro Mengoli Pietro Mengoli (1626, Bologna – June 7, 1686, Bologna) was an Italian mathematician and clergyman from Bologna, where he studied with Bonaventura Cavalieri at the University of Bologna, and succeeded him in 1647. He remained as professor there ...
proves of the divergence of the harmonic series, * 1654 - Johannes Hudde discovers the
power series In mathematics, a power series (in one variable) is an infinite series of the form \sum_^\infty a_n \left(x - c\right)^n = a_0 + a_1 (x - c) + a_2 (x - c)^2 + \dots where ''an'' represents the coefficient of the ''n''th term and ''c'' is a con ...
expansion for \ln(1+x), * 1656 -
John Wallis John Wallis (; la, Wallisius; ) was an English clergyman and mathematician who is given partial credit for the development of infinitesimal calculus. Between 1643 and 1689 he served as chief cryptographer for Parliament and, later, the royal ...
publishes ''Arithmetica Infinitorum'', * 1658 -
Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 church ...
shows that the length of a
cycloid In geometry, a cycloid is the curve traced by a point on a circle as it rolls along a straight line without slipping. A cycloid is a specific form of trochoid and is an example of a roulette, a curve generated by a curve rolling on another cu ...
is four times the diameter of its generating circle, * 1659 - Second edition of Van Schooten's Latin translation of Descartes' Geometry with appendices by Hudde and Heuraet, * 1665 -
Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, Theology, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosophy, natural philosopher"), widely ...
discovers the generalized
binomial theorem In elementary algebra, the binomial theorem (or binomial expansion) describes the algebraic expansion of powers of a binomial. According to the theorem, it is possible to expand the polynomial into a sum involving terms of the form , where the ...
and develops his version of
infinitesimal 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 ari ...
, * 1667 - James Gregory publishes ''Vera circuli et hyperbolae quadratura'', * 1668 -
Nicholas Mercator Nicholas (Nikolaus) Mercator (c. 1620, Holstein – 1687, Versailles), also known by his German name Kauffmann, was a 17th-century mathematician. He was born in Eutin, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany and educated at Rostock and Leyden after which h ...
publishes ''Logarithmotechnia'', * 1668 - James Gregory computes the
integral of the secant function In calculus, the integral of the secant function can be evaluated using a variety of methods and there are multiple ways of expressing the antiderivative, all of which can be shown to be equivalent via trigonometric identities, : \int \sec \thet ...
, * 1670 - Isaac Newton rediscovers the power series expansion for \sin x and \cos x (originally discovered by Madhava), * 1670 -
Isaac Barrow Isaac Barrow (October 1630 – 4 May 1677) was an English Christian theologian and mathematician who is generally given credit for his early role in the development of infinitesimal calculus; in particular, for proof of the fundamental theorem ...
publishes ''Lectiones Geometricae'', * 1671 - James Gregory rediscovers the power series expansion for \arctan x and \pi/4 (originally discovered by Madhava), * 1672 - René-François de Sluse publishes ''A Method of Drawing Tangents to All Geometrical Curves'', * 1673 -
Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathem ...
also develops his version of
infinitesimal 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 ari ...
, * 1675 - Isaac Newton invents a
Newton's method In numerical analysis, Newton's method, also known as the Newton–Raphson method, named after Isaac Newton and Joseph Raphson, is a root-finding algorithm which produces successively better approximations to the roots (or zeroes) of a real- ...
for the computation of
roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...
of a function, * 1675 - Leibniz uses the modern notation for an integral for the first time, * 1677 - Leibniz discovers the rules for differentiating
products Product may refer to: Business * Product (business), an item that serves as a solution to a specific consumer problem. * Product (project management), a deliverable or set of deliverables that contribute to a business solution Mathematics * Produ ...
, quotients, and the function of a function. * 1683 -
Jacob Bernoulli Jacob Bernoulli (also known as James or Jacques; – 16 August 1705) was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family. He was an early proponent of Leibnizian calculus and sided with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz during the Le ...
discovers the number , * 1684 - Leibniz publishes his first paper on calculus, * 1686 - The first appearance in print of the \int notation for integrals, * 1687 - Isaac Newton publishes ''
Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (English: ''Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy'') often referred to as simply the (), is a book by Isaac Newton that expounds Newton's laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation. The ''Principia'' is written in Latin and ...
'', * 1691 - The first proof of
Rolle's theorem In calculus, Rolle's theorem or Rolle's lemma essentially states that any real-valued differentiable function that attains equal values at two distinct points must have at least one stationary point somewhere between them—that is, a point whe ...
is given by
Michel Rolle Michel Rolle (21 April 1652 – 8 November 1719) was a French mathematician. He is best known for Rolle's theorem (1691). He is also the co-inventor in Europe of Gaussian elimination (1690). Life Rolle was born in Ambert, Basse-Auvergne. Ro ...
, * 1691 - Leibniz discovers the technique of
separation of variables In mathematics, separation of variables (also known as the Fourier method) is any of several methods for solving ordinary and partial differential equations, in which algebra allows one to rewrite an equation so that each of two variables occurs ...
for
ordinary differential equation In mathematics, an ordinary differential equation (ODE) is a differential equation whose unknown(s) consists of one (or more) function(s) of one variable and involves the derivatives of those functions. The term ''ordinary'' is used in contrast ...
s, * 1694 -
Johann Bernoulli Johann Bernoulli (also known as Jean or John; – 1 January 1748) was a Swiss mathematician and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family. He is known for his contributions to infinitesimal calculus and educating Le ...
discovers the
L'Hôpital's rule In calculus, l'Hôpital's rule or l'Hospital's rule (, , ), also known as Bernoulli's rule, is a theorem which provides a technique to evaluate limits of indeterminate forms. Application (or repeated application) of the rule often converts an i ...
, * 1696 -
Guillaume de L'Hôpital Guillaume François Antoine, Marquis de l'Hôpital (; sometimes spelled L'Hospital; 1661 – 2 February 1704), also known as Guillaume-François-Antoine Marquis de l'Hôpital, Marquis de Sainte-Mesme, Comte d'Entremont, and Seigneur d'Ouques-la- ...
publishes '' Analyse des Infiniment Petits'', the first calculus textbook, * 1696 - Jakob Bernoulli and Johann Bernoulli solve the brachistochrone problem, the first result in the
calculus of variations The calculus of variations (or Variational Calculus) is a field of mathematical analysis that uses variations, which are small changes in functions and functionals, to find maxima and minima of functionals: mappings from a set of functions t ...
.


18th century

* 1711 - Isaac Newton publishes ''
De analysi per aequationes numero terminorum infinitas ''De analysi per aequationes numero terminorum infinitas'' (or ''On analysis by infinite series'', ''On Analysis by Equations with an infinite number of terms'', or ''On the Analysis by means of equations of an infinite number of terms'') is a m ...
'', * 1712 -
Brook Taylor Brook Taylor (18 August 1685 – 29 December 1731) was an English mathematician best known for creating Taylor's theorem and the Taylor series, which are important for their use in mathematical analysis. Life and work Brook Taylor ...
develops
Taylor series In mathematics, the Taylor series or Taylor expansion of a function is an infinite sum of terms that are expressed in terms of the function's derivatives at a single point. For most common functions, the function and the sum of its Taylor ser ...
, * 1722 -
Roger Cotes Roger Cotes (10 July 1682 – 5 June 1716) was an English mathematician, known for working closely with Isaac Newton by proofreading the second edition of his famous book, the '' Principia'', before publication. He also invented the quadratur ...
computes the derivative of sine in his ''Harmonia Mensurarum'', * 1730 - James Stirling publishes ''The Differential Method'', * 1734 -
George Berkeley George Berkeley (; 12 March 168514 January 1753) – known as Bishop Berkeley ( Bishop of Cloyne of the Anglican Church of Ireland) – was an Anglo-Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immate ...
publishes '' The Analyst'', * 1734 -
Leonhard Euler Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries ...
introduces the
integrating factor In mathematics, an integrating factor is a function that is chosen to facilitate the solving of a given equation involving differentials. It is commonly used to solve ordinary differential equations, but is also used within multivariable calcul ...
technique for solving first-order ordinary differential equations, * 1735 - Leonhard Euler solves the
Basel problem The Basel problem is a problem in mathematical analysis with relevance to number theory, concerning an infinite sum of inverse squares. It was first posed by Pietro Mengoli in 1650 and solved by Leonhard Euler in 1734, and read on 5 December 1735 ...
, relating an
infinite series In mathematics, a series is, roughly speaking, a description of the operation of adding infinitely many quantities, one after the other, to a given starting quantity. The study of series is a major part of calculus and its generalization, math ...
to π, * 1736 - Newton's
Method of Fluxions ''Method of Fluxions'' ( la, De Methodis Serierum et Fluxionum) is a mathematical treatise by Sir Isaac Newton which served as the earliest written formulation of modern calculus. The book was completed in 1671, and published in 1736. Fluxion ...
posthumously published, * 1737 -
Thomas Simpson Thomas Simpson FRS (20 August 1710 – 14 May 1761) was a British mathematician and inventor known for the eponymous Simpson's rule to approximate definite integrals. The attribution, as often in mathematics, can be debated: this rule had been ...
publishes ''Treatise of Fluxions'', * 1739 - Leonhard Euler solves the general homogeneous linear ordinary differential equation with
constant coefficients In mathematics, a linear differential equation is a differential equation that is defined by a linear polynomial in the unknown function and its derivatives, that is an equation of the form :a_0(x)y + a_1(x)y' + a_2(x)y'' \cdots + a_n(x)y^ = b ...
, * 1742 - Modern definion of logarithm by William Gardiner, * 1742 -
Colin Maclaurin Colin Maclaurin (; gd, Cailean MacLabhruinn; February 1698 – 14 June 1746) was a Scottish mathematician who made important contributions to geometry and algebra. He is also known for being a child prodigy and holding the record for bei ...
publishes ''Treatise on Fluxions'', * 1748 - Euler publishes ''
Introductio in analysin infinitorum ''Introductio in analysin infinitorum'' (Latin: ''Introduction to the Analysis of the Infinite'') is a two-volume work by Leonhard Euler which lays the foundations of mathematical analysis. Written in Latin and published in 1748, the ''Introducti ...
'', * 1748 -
Maria Gaetana Agnesi Maria Gaetana Agnesi ( , , ; 16 May 1718 – 9 January 1799) was an Italian mathematician, philosopher, theologian, and humanitarian. She was the first woman to write a mathematics handbook and the first woman appointed as a mathematics profe ...
discusses analysis in ''Instituzioni Analitiche ad Uso della Gioventu Italiana'', * 1762 -
Joseph Louis Lagrange Joseph-Louis Lagrange (born Giuseppe Luigi Lagrangiadivergence theorem In vector calculus, the divergence theorem, also known as Gauss's theorem or Ostrogradsky's theorem, reprinted in is a theorem which relates the '' flux'' of a vector field through a closed surface to the ''divergence'' of the field in the ...
, * 1797 - Lagrange publishes ''Théorie des fonctions analytiques'',


19th century

* 1807 -
Joseph Fourier Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier (; ; 21 March 1768 – 16 May 1830) was a French mathematician and physicist born in Auxerre and best known for initiating the investigation of Fourier series, which eventually developed into Fourier analysis and ha ...
announces his discoveries about the trigonometric decomposition of functions, * 1811 - Carl Friedrich Gauss discusses the meaning of integrals with complex limits and briefly examines the dependence of such integrals on the chosen path of integration, * 1815 -
Siméon Denis Poisson Baron Siméon Denis Poisson FRS FRSE (; 21 June 1781 – 25 April 1840) was a French mathematician and physicist who worked on statistics, complex analysis, partial differential equations, the calculus of variations, analytical mechanics, electri ...
carries out integrations along paths in the complex plane, * 1817 -
Bernard Bolzano Bernard Bolzano (, ; ; ; born Bernardus Placidus Johann Gonzal Nepomuk Bolzano; 5 October 1781 – 18 December 1848) was a Bohemian mathematician, logician, philosopher, theologian and Catholic priest of Italian extraction, also known for his li ...
presents the
intermediate value theorem In mathematical analysis, the intermediate value theorem states that if f is a continuous function whose domain contains the interval , then it takes on any given value between f(a) and f(b) at some point within the interval. This has two impor ...
— a
continuous function In mathematics, a continuous function is a function such that a continuous variation (that is a change without jump) of the argument induces a continuous variation of the value of the function. This means that there are no abrupt changes in val ...
which is negative at one point and positive at another point must be zero for at least one point in between, * 1822 -
Augustin-Louis Cauchy Baron Augustin-Louis Cauchy (, ; ; 21 August 178923 May 1857) was a French mathematician, engineer, and physicist who made pioneering contributions to several branches of mathematics, including mathematical analysis and continuum mechanics. H ...
presents the Cauchy integral theorem for integration around the boundary of a rectangle in the
complex plane In mathematics, the complex plane is the plane formed by the complex numbers, with a Cartesian coordinate system such that the -axis, called the real axis, is formed by the real numbers, and the -axis, called the imaginary axis, is formed by the ...
, * 1825 - Augustin-Louis Cauchy presents the Cauchy integral theorem for general integration paths—he assumes the function being integrated has a continuous derivative, and he introduces the theory of residues in
complex analysis Complex analysis, traditionally known as the theory of functions of a complex variable, is the branch of mathematical analysis that investigates Function (mathematics), functions of complex numbers. It is helpful in many branches of mathemati ...
, * 1825 -
André-Marie Ampère André-Marie Ampère (, ; ; 20 January 177510 June 1836) was a French physicist and mathematician who was one of the founders of the science of classical electromagnetism, which he referred to as "electrodynamics". He is also the inventor of nu ...
discovers
Stokes' theorem Stokes's theorem, also known as the Kelvin–Stokes theorem Nagayoshi Iwahori, et al.:"Bi-Bun-Seki-Bun-Gaku" Sho-Ka-Bou(jp) 1983/12Written in Japanese)Atsuo Fujimoto;"Vector-Kai-Seki Gendai su-gaku rekucha zu. C(1)" :ja:培風館, Bai-Fu-Kan( ...
, * 1828 - George Green introduces
Green's theorem In vector calculus, Green's theorem relates a line integral around a simple closed curve to a double integral over the plane region bounded by . It is the two-dimensional special case of Stokes' theorem. Theorem Let be a positively orie ...
, * 1831 - Mikhail Vasilievich Ostrogradsky rediscovers and gives the first proof of the divergence theorem earlier described by Lagrange, Gauss and Green, * 1841 -
Karl Weierstrass Karl Theodor Wilhelm Weierstrass (german: link=no, Weierstraß ; 31 October 1815 – 19 February 1897) was a German mathematician often cited as the "father of modern analysis". Despite leaving university without a degree, he studied mathematics ...
discovers but does not publish the Laurent expansion theorem, * 1843 - Pierre-Alphonse Laurent discovers and presents the Laurent expansion theorem, * 1850 -
Victor Alexandre Puiseux Victor Alexandre Puiseux (; 16 April 1820 – 9 September 1883) was a French mathematician and astronomer. Puiseux series are named after him, as is in part the Bertrand–Diquet–Puiseux theorem. His work on algebraic functions and unif ...
distinguishes between
poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in ...
and branch points and introduces the concept of essential singular points, * 1850 -
George Gabriel Stokes Sir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Baronet, (; 13 August 1819 – 1 February 1903) was an Irish English physicist and mathematician. Born in County Sligo, Ireland, Stokes spent all of his career at the University of Cambridge, where he was the Luc ...
rediscovers and proves
Stokes' theorem Stokes's theorem, also known as the Kelvin–Stokes theorem Nagayoshi Iwahori, et al.:"Bi-Bun-Seki-Bun-Gaku" Sho-Ka-Bou(jp) 1983/12Written in Japanese)Atsuo Fujimoto;"Vector-Kai-Seki Gendai su-gaku rekucha zu. C(1)" :ja:培風館, Bai-Fu-Kan( ...
, * 1861 - Karl Weierstrass starts to use the language of epsilons and deltas, * 1873 -
Georg Frobenius Ferdinand Georg Frobenius (26 October 1849 – 3 August 1917) was a German mathematician, best known for his contributions to the theory of elliptic functions, differential equations, number theory, and to group theory. He is known for the famous ...
presents his method for finding series solutions to linear differential equations with regular singular points,


20th century

* 1908 -
Josip Plemelj Josip Plemelj (December 11, 1873 – May 22, 1967) was a Slovene mathematician, whose main contributions were to the theory of analytic functions and the application of integral equations to potential theory. He was the first chancellor of t ...
solves the Riemann problem about the existence of a differential equation with a given monodromic group and uses Sokhotsky - Plemelj formulae, * 1966 -
Abraham Robinson Abraham Robinson (born Robinsohn; October 6, 1918 – April 11, 1974) was a mathematician who is most widely known for development of nonstandard analysis, a mathematically rigorous system whereby infinitesimal and infinite numbers were reincorp ...
presents
non-standard analysis The history of calculus is fraught with philosophical debates about the meaning and logical validity of fluxions or infinitesimal numbers. The standard way to resolve these debates is to define the operations of calculus using epsilon–delta ...
. * 1985 - Louis de Branges de Bourcia proves the
Bieberbach conjecture In complex analysis, de Branges's theorem, or the Bieberbach conjecture, is a theorem that gives a necessary condition on a holomorphic function in order for it to map the open unit disk of the complex plane injectively to the complex plane. It was ...
,


See also

* * * *


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Timeline Of Calculus And Mathematical Analysis Calculus and mathematical analysis * *