Overview
- Provides the first edition of Leibniz’s papers that attempt to prove the Parallel Postulate
- Discusses at length the history of the foundations of geometry in the seventeenth century
- Gives a new perspective on the historical development of non-Euclidean geometry
- A detailed monograph on Leibniz’s geometrical studies and mathematical epistemology
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Science Networks. Historical Studies (SNHS, volume 51)
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Table of contents (6 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Leibniz on the Parallel Postulate and the Foundations of Geometry
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Front Matter
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Leibniz’ Texts on Parallel Lines
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
This book offers a general introduction to the geometrical studies of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) and his mathematical epistemology. In particular, it focuses on his theory of parallel lines and his attempts to prove the famous Parallel Postulate. Furthermore it explains the role that Leibniz’s work played in the development of non-Euclidean geometry. The first part is an overview of his epistemology of geometry and a few of his geometrical findings, which puts them in the context of the seventeenth-century studies on the foundations of geometry. It also provides a detailed mathematical and philosophical commentary on his writings on the theory of parallels, and discusses how they were received in the eighteenth century as well as their relevance for the non-Euclidean revolution in mathematics. The second part offers a collection of Leibniz’s essays on the theory of parallels and an English translation of them. While a few of these papers have already been published (in Latin) in the standard Leibniz editions, most of them are transcribed from Leibniz’s manuscripts written in Hannover, and published here for the first time. The book provides new material on the history of non-Euclidean geometry, stressing the previously neglected role of Leibniz in these developments.
This volume will be of interest to historians in mathematics, philosophy or logic, as well as mathematicians interested in non-Euclidean geometry.
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Authors and Affiliations
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Leibniz on the Parallel Postulate and the Foundations of Geometry
Book Subtitle: The Unpublished Manuscripts
Authors: Vincenzo De Risi
Series Title: Science Networks. Historical Studies
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19863-7
Publisher: Birkhäuser Cham
eBook Packages: Mathematics and Statistics, Mathematics and Statistics (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-19862-0Published: 10 February 2016
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-79288-0Published: 31 March 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-19863-7Published: 28 January 2016
Series ISSN: 1421-6329
Series E-ISSN: 2296-6080
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VIII, 195
Topics: History of Mathematical Sciences, Geometry, History of Philosophy