Mathematical Treasure: Abraham Kästner’s Lecture on Neglecting Infinitesimal Quantities

In 1746 Abraham Kästner (1719–1800) was invited to deliver a lecture that was then printed in Leipzig. Titled “Cavtionem in qvantitatvm infinite parvarvm neglectv observandam exemplis qvibvsdam illustrat simulque ad audiendam . . . orationem” (Illustrating by certain examples the caution to be observed in the neglect of infinitesimal quantities, and at the same time providing an invited, extraordinary, public oration), the speech covered the ideas of mathematicians such as Leibniz, Fontenelle, Maclaurin, and Jacob Bernoulli. A few of the booklet’s 16 pages are shown below.

A full digitization of its copy is available from the Wellcome Library.

Index to Mathematical Treasures