Calculus and analysis in early 19th-century Britain: The work of William Wallace (Q1818240)

This well documented essay sheds further light on the multidimensional contributions of the Scottish mathematician W. Wallace and the plausible reasons his achievements were later neglected. Focusing on his article `Fluxions', published in the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia in 1815, the author successfully argues that Wallace, although `not a creative mathematician of the highest rank' (p. 262), still deserves credit `not only for being the first British writer to publish comprehensive work on the calculus in differential notation, but also for confronting thorny issues on its foundation' (p. 254). Thus acknowledging the merits of Wallace's `novel' discussion of the `doctrine of limits', the author explores Wallace's relationship with J. Ivory and J. Hershel, not omitting to note the former's contribution to the debate of the Reform Bill in 1832, calling Wallace's relevant articles an `early application of mathematics to sociopolitical studies' (p. 262). A valuable addition to the list of recent publications which clarify long-standing distortions, exclusive emphasis on the import of the Analytical Society at Cambridge forming a vivid example!