Leibniz and the Impossibility of Squaring the Circle

Result code in IS VaVaI

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Result on the web

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DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Leibniz and the Impossibility of Squaring the Circle

Original language description

In this paper, I shall study the last proposition of the De Quadratura Arithmetica (1676) of G.W. Leibniz, where we find a proof that it is impossible to solve algebraically the quadrature of an arbitrary sector of the circle, the hyperbola and the ellipse. I shall deal with the quadrature of the circle only, and I shall put this mathematical result into its proper context, that is to say the controversy that had opposed James Gregory and Christiaan Huygens several years earlier. Probably under Huygens’ guidance, Leibniz studied the documents related to the controversy and wrote interesting observations about it. These observations show that Leibniz was led to investigate the issue of impossibility with the hope of correcting some flaws in Gregory’s reasoning, and eventually come up with an original impossibility theorem. Keywords: Infinitesimal Geometry, Gregory, Huygens, Leibniz, impossibility, quadrature of the circle, infinite series.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

C - Chapter in a specialist book

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

60301 - Philosophy, History and Philosophy of science and technology

Project

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Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2017

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Book/collection name

The dialogue between sciences, philosophy and engineering. New historical and epistemological insights. Homage to Gottfried W. Leibniz 1646-1716

ISBN

978-1-84890-227-5

Number of pages of the result

28

Pages from-to

93-120

Number of pages of the book

434

Publisher name

College Publications

Place of publication

London

UT code for WoS chapter

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