The Origins of the Infinitesimal Calculus (Dover Classics of Science and Mathematics)

Few among the numerous studies of calculus offer the detailed and fully documented historical perspective of this text. It begins with an enlightening view of the Greek, Hindu, and Arabic sources that constituted the framework for the development of infinitesimal methods in the seventeenth century. Subsequent chapters discuss the arithmetization of integration methods, the role of investigation of special curves, concepts of tangent and arc, the composition of motions, and the developing link between differential and integral processes. Significant changes in proof structure and presentation are considered in relation to the formulation of rules for the construction of tangents and quadrature of curves. 1969 edition.