MATHEMATICS AND MECHANICS IN THE 18TH CENTURY

• Calculus is termed infinitesimal before it gained its present name. it was then proposed by
Newton and Leibniz which grew out of the insistent and perseverance of mathematicians with
problems which has defied and challenge the predecessor method and processes of
mathematics.
• Then the inception of Differential, Integral, and the beginnings of the calculus of variations, the
systematic application of the new ideas to mechanics, and in particular to celestial mechanics.
• Also in the same period comes a vigorous attack on "the problem of three bodies“.

• Among the leading mathematicians of the period were Maclaurin of Scotland, various members
of the Swiss Bernoulli family, Euler also a native of Switzerland, Lagrange of Italy, and Clairaut,
d'Alembert, and Laplace in France.
• In spite of the unique supremacy of Newton, the absence of Britons from this list is notable.
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• There were peronal controversies between Newton and Leibniz which in the long run produced
an unfortunate division between the English and the continental mathematicians.

• Colin Maclaurin (1698-1746) was professor of mathematics at Edinburgh.

• Magnitude generates motion
• By comparing the increments that were generated in any equal successive parts of the time, it
was first determined whether the motion was uniform, accelerated, or retarded.
• Acceleration is resolved into two parts: it is generated if the motion had not been accelerated,
but had continued uniform from the beginning of the time
• and in consequence of the continual acceleration of the motion during that time.
• He also gave thorough description of his work on the method of infinitesimal.

• Taylor, indeed, published in 1715 the so-called Taylors series or theorem. As you can see in the
slide the notation of the series of Taylor’s Expansion.
• As I have searched, the Taylor series can be used to calculate the value of an entire function at
every point.
• A Taylor series is an idea used in computer science, calculus, chemistry, physics and other kinds
of higher-level mathematics. It is a series that is used to create an estimate (guess) of what a
function looks like. Derivatives of functions are taken and summing them up together. The
method is actually for approximation which would be as close as the actual function. (It is being
applied but not limited to engineering, computer programming which demands for repetitive
tasks most of the time)

 The Bernoulli family is one of the most outstanding examples of a family of which members of
several generations became Famous as men of science.

 The brothers John and James:

 • John professor at Groningen while James is of the same profession at Basle (France) were
prominent pupils of Leibniz
• In bitter personal rivalry they discovered many theorems on the calculus, concerning catenaries,
geodetic lines, brachistochrone.

James's posthumous Ars conjectandi (1713) is a

landmark in the theory of probability.
Their nephew Daniel
Bernoulli (1700-82), also professor at Basle, made such good
use of the new mathematical methods in attacking previously
unsolved problems of mechanics. Thus, he has been called the
founder of mathematical physics. He recognized the importance
of the principle of the conservation of force anticipated
in part by Huygens.

• Leonhard Euler- while swiss by birth but spent most of his lifetime at the courts of St. Petersburg
and Berlin.
• In spite of partial and ultimately complete blindness, his scientific productivity was enormous,
and one of the most ambitious scientific undertakings of our own time is the publication of his
complete works in 45 volumes.
• Our college mathematics algebra, analytic geometry, and the calculus owes its present shape
largely to his work.
• Also published the Introductio in analysin infinitorum contas algebra and some calculus.
• There are expansions in series e iz , sin x ,cos x ,∧the fundamental formula eix =cos x +i sin x .
So, this formula is actually from that of Kepler
• Euler's Complete Introduction to Algebra was one of the most influential books on algebra in the
eighteenth century. He was already blind while working on this precious work. What he did was
he picked out a young man from berlin as an attendant of him. The young man has no
understanding of mathematics but with Eulers method or writing the book in easily intelligible
form the young man has not just understand well the book but in short period of time acquired
the power to carry out difficult algebraic processes.

• formulated the idea of function which has proved so fundamental in modern mathematics, both
pure and applied.
• His works also contain the first systematic treatment of the calculus of variations. which is
defined as "the method of finding the change caused in an expression containing any number of
variables.
• From the previous chapter it was already mentioned that he was the first to treat the vibration
of light. From this he was able to deduced the law of refraction
• studied dispersion for a corrective chromatic aberration which was declared by newton as
unattainable. Later on Dolland induced from his experiment and able to construct his
achromatic lenses.
• He gained the prize of ₤20,000 offered by the British parliament for a method of determining
longitude at sea while half of the same prize was received by John Harrison for the same
purpose.
• According to Berry an author describing Euler and I quote, Euler was probably the most versatile
as well as the most prolific mathematicians of all time.