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Mathematical Treasure: Isaac Newton's Calculus of 1711

Author(s): 
Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University)

Isaac Newton (1642–1727) published Analysis per quantitatum series, fluxiones ac differentias in 1711.

In his first Regula (Rule), Newton provided an antiderivative formula familiar to any calculus student. Note that his purpose was to find the area under a curve.

Note Newton's definitions of Fluxiones (fluxions, or derivatives) and Fluentes (fluents, or antiderivatives) at the bottom of page 41:

Newton examined and illustrated properties of the hyperbola.

The images above are provided courtesy of Columbia University Libraries.

For images from another of Newton's works on fluxions, see Mathematical Treasure: Newton's Method of Fluxions.

Index to Mathematical Treasures

Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University), "Mathematical Treasure: Isaac Newton's Calculus of 1711," Convergence (April 2018)