Ten misconceptions from the history of analysis and their debunking (Q360440): Difference between revisions
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The authors state that the idea that infinitesimals were completely abandoned (or `eliminated') by the `great triumvirate' of Cantor, Dedekind and Weierstrass is widespread but wrong. They identify ten misconceptions in the history of analysis and thereby show that the history of analysis was by no means a direct road leading from Leibniz to the 19th century and beyond. They show that a useful number system was already in the hands of Stevin long before Newton and Leibniz so that one cannot claim the success of the triumvirate was only possible due to the introduction of a system of real numbers for the first time in the 19th century. Other points of discussions are Berkeley's criticism of Newton's infinitesimals, the role of d'Alembert, the rigor of Cauchy and his famous `sum theorem', Weierstrass, Dedekind's idea of continuity, the relation between Leibniz and Robinson, the invention of Dirac's function, and Lakatos and Kuhnian relativism. There was always a second path in the history of analysis, in which infinitesimals played a dominant role even after the triumvirate. In an appendix, the construction of hyperreal numbers is outlined and compared to Cantor's construction of the real numbers. | |||
Property / review text: The authors state that the idea that infinitesimals were completely abandoned (or `eliminated') by the `great triumvirate' of Cantor, Dedekind and Weierstrass is widespread but wrong. They identify ten misconceptions in the history of analysis and thereby show that the history of analysis was by no means a direct road leading from Leibniz to the 19th century and beyond. They show that a useful number system was already in the hands of Stevin long before Newton and Leibniz so that one cannot claim the success of the triumvirate was only possible due to the introduction of a system of real numbers for the first time in the 19th century. Other points of discussions are Berkeley's criticism of Newton's infinitesimals, the role of d'Alembert, the rigor of Cauchy and his famous `sum theorem', Weierstrass, Dedekind's idea of continuity, the relation between Leibniz and Robinson, the invention of Dirac's function, and Lakatos and Kuhnian relativism. There was always a second path in the history of analysis, in which infinitesimals played a dominant role even after the triumvirate. In an appendix, the construction of hyperreal numbers is outlined and compared to Cantor's construction of the real numbers. / rank | |||
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Property / reviewed by: Thomas Sonar / rank | |||
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Property / Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 01A55 / rank | |||
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Property / Mathematics Subject Classification ID | |||
Property / Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 26-03 / rank | |||
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Property / zbMATH DE Number: 6201725 / rank | |||
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Property / zbMATH Keywords | |||
infinitesimals | |||
Property / zbMATH Keywords: infinitesimals / rank | |||
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nonstandard analysis | |||
Property / zbMATH Keywords: nonstandard analysis / rank | |||
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continuum | |||
Property / zbMATH Keywords: continuum / rank | |||
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hyperreal numbers | |||
Property / zbMATH Keywords: hyperreal numbers / rank | |||
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real numbers | |||
Property / zbMATH Keywords: real numbers / rank | |||
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Revision as of 11:29, 28 June 2023
scientific article
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English | Ten misconceptions from the history of analysis and their debunking |
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Statements
Ten misconceptions from the history of analysis and their debunking (English)
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27 August 2013
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The authors state that the idea that infinitesimals were completely abandoned (or `eliminated') by the `great triumvirate' of Cantor, Dedekind and Weierstrass is widespread but wrong. They identify ten misconceptions in the history of analysis and thereby show that the history of analysis was by no means a direct road leading from Leibniz to the 19th century and beyond. They show that a useful number system was already in the hands of Stevin long before Newton and Leibniz so that one cannot claim the success of the triumvirate was only possible due to the introduction of a system of real numbers for the first time in the 19th century. Other points of discussions are Berkeley's criticism of Newton's infinitesimals, the role of d'Alembert, the rigor of Cauchy and his famous `sum theorem', Weierstrass, Dedekind's idea of continuity, the relation between Leibniz and Robinson, the invention of Dirac's function, and Lakatos and Kuhnian relativism. There was always a second path in the history of analysis, in which infinitesimals played a dominant role even after the triumvirate. In an appendix, the construction of hyperreal numbers is outlined and compared to Cantor's construction of the real numbers.
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infinitesimals
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nonstandard analysis
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continuum
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hyperreal numbers
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real numbers
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