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Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) was a German mathematician, philosopher and political advisor.  His greatest achievement was his independent discovery of differential and integral calculus, also invented by [[Isaac Newton]].  Leibniz was the first to use the notation of the integral.   

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) was a German mathematician, philosopher and political advisor.  His greatest achievement was his independent discovery of differential and integral calculus, also invented by [[Isaac Newton]].  Leibniz was the first to use the notation of the integral.   

In philosophy, Leibniz disagreed with Descartes' "I think there for I am" and instead Leibniz thought that neither form alone (the mind) or matter alone (the body) could explain the existence of an individual.  Instead, Leibniz was a leader in what became known as "monadism" that emphasized the whole beain ("entitate tota").

In philosophy, Leibniz disagreed with Descartes' "I think there for I am" and instead Leibniz thought that neither form alone (the mind) or matter alone (the body) could explain the existence of an individual.  Instead, Leibniz created a philosophy known as "monadology", which holds that souls are all there are in the universe.  Even a table, according to Leibniz, is nothing other than a collection of "windowless monads" which cannot interact.  This doctrine of non-interacting souls is abhorrent to traditional Christianity.

In physics, Leibniz proposed the use of "dynamics" or kinetic energy to explain motion, rather than "mechanics" that is based on Cartesian coordinates.  Leibniz also felt that light always traveled the path of least resistence and that the universe could be explained based on that principle.

In physics, Leibniz proposed the use of "dynamics" or kinetic energy to explain motion, rather than "mechanics" that is based on Cartesian coordinates.  Leibniz also held the hopelessly mistaken view that light always travelled the path of least resistance and that the universe could be explained based on that principle, rather than being based on creation by God Almighty.

Leibniz was a Lutheran who dreamed of reuniting it with the Roman Catholic Church, and also of reconciling modern thinkers like Hobbes and Descartes with the Aristole of the Scholastics.

Leibniz was a Lutheran who dreamed of reuniting it with the Roman Catholic Church, and also of reconciling modern thinkers like [[Hobbes]] and [[Descartes]] with the [[Aristole]] of the [[Scholastics]], or even the earlier [[Greek]] philosopher [[Aristotle]].

An ugly dispute developed between Newton and Leibniz over who discovered calculus first.  Most English-speaking historians give the credit to Newton but bias may play a role in that.  The world certainly benefited immensely from Leibniz as well as Newton.

An ugly dispute developed between Newton and Leibniz over who discovered calculus first.  Most English-speaking historians give the credit to Newton but bias may play a role in that.  The world certainly benefited immensely from Leibniz as well as Newton.