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arXiv · 2210.14504

Historical infinitesimalists and modern historiography of infinitesimals

Jacques Bair·Alexandre Borovik·Vladimir Kanovei·Mikhail G. Katz·Semen Kutateladze·Sam Sanders·David Sherry·Monica Ugaglia
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Abstract

In the history of infinitesimal calculus, we trace innovation from Leibniz to Cauchy and reaction from Berkeley to Mansion and beyond. We explore 19th century infinitesimal lores, including the approaches of Simeon-Denis Poisson, Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis, and Jean-Nicolas Noel. We examine contrasting historiographic approaches to such lores, in the work of Laugwitz, Schubring, Spalt, and others, and address a recent critique by Archibald et al. We argue that the element of contingency in this history is more prominent than many modern historians seem willing to acknowledge.

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Jacques Bair, Alexandre Borovik, Vladimir Kanovei, Mikhail G. Katz, Semen Kutateladze, Sam Sanders, David Sherry, Monica Ugaglia. 2023-03-14. Historical infinitesimalists and modern historiography of infinitesimals. https://doi.org/10.14708/am.v16i1.7169

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