Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) is considered to be amongst the top few intellects in history. He was possibly the last 'universal 
man' in the sense that he mastered all branches of knowledge known at his time and dealt with them as a unified whole. Leibniz was born in Leipzig. His father was a professor of moral philosophy, but died when the young Gottfried was only six years old. There was no fortune in the family, and Gottfried proceeded to educate himself spending many hours alone in his father's library. By the time he had reached the age of fifteen he was admitted to law at the University of Leipzig. At the age of twenty he had completed his studies but was refused a degree on the grounds that he was too young. In truth he had irritated a number of stuffy and unimaginative professors at the University. His recourse was to go to another university -- Aldtorf, write a dissertation there, and reapply for his law degree. The University of Altdorf not only granted Leibniz his degree; but offered him a professorship, which he refused saying he had "very different things in view."
Leibniz' career was as a diplomat and legal council to various German princes. He spent much of his time traveling back and forth across Europe on various missions. In addition to trying to divert the attention of King Louis XIV of France from the German principalities, he was involved in a prolonged effort to reunite the Christian churches, as well as conducting interminable research into the family tree of the Brunswicks. Leibniz was well connected with the social, political, and intellectual elite of Europe; he had over 600 correspondents. A man of considerable skill, like many diplomats his turn of phrase showed a remarkable ability to deal creatively with the truth.
Leibniz plays a major role in mainstream western philosophy. He was influenced by Spinoza, whom he met, and in turn influenced succeeding German philosophers such as Kant. Leibniz' philosophical writing was vast and largely went unpublished. Possibly because Leibniz was sensitive to his diplomatic position, he did not allow himself to publish views that were too shocking. It is unfortunate that in reading Leibniz' philosophy, one must keep in mind its possible tailoring to please the princes and princesses of the day. His unpublished works present a less romantic and more rationalistic, precise, and logical view of the world.
Leibniz' philosophy centered around pointlike entities called monads which were also spiritual in character. All matter, including the human body and mind, were made of monads. Leibniz argued in favour of God and religion, and fought against the philosophy of Descartes, which he felt was dangerous to faith.
At various times in his career Leibniz started journals, founded academic institutions, invented mechanical devices including a calculating machine, (shown here) 
and supervised mining operations in the Harz Mountains. In this position he made sufficient observations concerning the Earth's crust to be considered by some to have founded the study of Geology; for example, he is the first to have claimed that the Earth was originally molten.
Leibniz' work in mathematics includes combinatorics, the base-two numeration system, and a system of mathematical logic no longer in use. The nature of his thinking is perhaps shown in his comment about imaginary numbers: "The imaginary number is a fine and wonderful recourse of the divine spirit, almost an amphibian between being and non-being." Of course, the invention of calculus will remain as the most lasting contribution of Leibniz to human progress. Leibniz worked out his version of calculus in the three or four years preceding its publication in 1677. The differential symbols -- dx, and dy -- as well as the integral sign ò are due to Leibniz.
It is now thought that Newton and Leibniz developed calculus independently and nearly simultaneously. But, unfortunately, a long and bitter fight broke out over credit for the invention of calculus; each side accusing the other of stealing the main ideas. But, a more likely picture of the events is that Descartes, Fermat, and others, had laid the groundwork; the times were right; and calculus was waiting to be found.
In spite of his illustrious career, Leibniz was abandoned in old age by his friends and associates. He died a bitter and lonely man; his personal secretary was the only one to attend his funeral.
Also visit these links to Leibniz on the web:
Back