Calculus, also belief, was Re: [UA] Crosswords and Blue Teets

[Peter Hindman]

> or why calculus was
>developed by 3 different people isolated in different
>parts of the world within the same generation.

   Erm, well, the version I'm familiar with is Newton at Cambridge and
Leibniz in Germany, neither of whom was really isolated; there existed a
substantial intellectual community in Europe at the time which was
concerned with such questions.  It's generally agreed that Newton
developed his version about ten years before Leibniz developed his, but
didn't publish until much later.  Leibniz worked independently in the
sense that he didn't see Newton's work, but they were familiar with the
same sources--the subject didn't just spring fully-formed from the brow of
either.
   It steam-engines when it comes steam-engine time, yes, but often that's
because a lot of people have agreed that a steam engine ought to be
possible and decided to spend a lot of time thinking about the matter and
discussing amongst themselves.

   A decent reference is at http://www.mnsfld.edu/~rwalker/Calculus.html.

   I think Newton's post-mathematical work, both as a Christian mystic and
an enthusiastic and violent tax collector, is probably more UAble than his
work on the calculus, myself.

   It seems like at least half the people who've rung in on the belief
issue are Catholic or ex-Catholic.  Does this imply something about the
player base of UA?  Does it indicate that people raised Catholic are
more likely to bring it up in conversation?  (And no, I'm not.  Just
wondering.)


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