Infinitely small quantities in Cauchy's textbooks (Q1099149)

The paper deals with the controversial question concerning the well-known `errors' made by Cauchy in his epoch-making textbooks (Cours d'analyse (1821); Résumé (1823) etc.). Author's main thesis is that ``infinitely small quantities are fundamental in Cauchy's analysis, they are compatible with rigor, and they produce simplicity''. According to this claim, he first considers Cauchy's definition of an infinitesimal (a variable having zero as its limit) then he discusses in some detail the role played by infinitesimals in the basic concepts of the calculus as presented in Cauchy's textbooks. The author also shows how Cauchy's `errors' become correct theorems when interpreted according to a theory of infinitesimals. The attempts toward two (modern) theories of infinitesimals proposed by the author himself are briefly sketched in the last section of the paper.