Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Portrait by Christoph Bernhard Francke
Born	July 1, 1646 Leipzig, Electorate of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire
Died	November 14, 1716(1716-11-14) (aged 70) Hanover, Electorate of Hanover, Holy Roman Empire
Nationality	German
Education	Alte Nikolaischule () (1655–1661)
Alma mater	Leipzig University (1661–1666): BA in phil., Dec. 1662 MA in phil., Feb. 1664 LL.B., Sep. 1665 Dr.phil.habil., Mar. 1666 University of Jena (summer school, 1663) University of Altdorf (Dr.jur., November 1666)
Era	17th-/18th-century philosophy
Region	Western Philosophy
School	Rationalism
Main interests	Mathematics, metaphysics, logic, theodicy, universal language
Notable ideas	Calculus Monads Best of all possible worlds Leibniz formula for π Leibniz harmonic triangle Leibniz formula for determinants Leibniz integral rule Principle of sufficient reason Diagrammatic reasoning Notation for differentiation Proof of Fermat's little theorem Kinetic energy Entscheidungsproblem AST (Leibniz test) Law of Continuity Transcendental law of homogeneity Characteristica universalis Ars combinatoria Calculus ratiocinator Universalwissenschaft
Influences Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Augustine of Hippo, Scholasticism, Thomas Aquinas, Maimonides, Nicholas of Cusa, Suárez, Giordano Bruno, Descartes, Hobbes, Pico della Mirandola, Jakob Thomasius,Gassendi, Malebranche, Spinoza, Bossuet, Pascal, Huygens, J. Bernoulli, Weigel,G. Wagner, Steno, Llull,Confucius, Conway
Influenced C. Wolff, Tetens, Maupertuis, Vico, Platner, Boscovich, Bonnet, Diderot, Hume, Husserl, Kant, Hegel, G. Wagner, Bonald, Russell, Howison, Varisco, Chaitin, Wiener, Gödel, Heidegger, LaRouche, du Châtelet, F. G. Frobenius, Ravaisson, Peirce, Bergson, Frege, Rescher, Ferreira dos Santos, Deleuze, Tarde
Signature

Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz (/ˈlaɪbnɪts/;German: [ˈɡɔtfʁiːt ˈvɪlhɛlm fɔn ˈlaɪbnɪts] or [ˈlaɪpnɪts];French: Godefroi Guillaume Leibnitz; 1 July 1646 [O.S. 21 June] – November 14, 1716) was a German polymath and philosopher who occupies a prominent place in the history of mathematics and the history of philosophy, having developed differential and integral calculus independently of Isaac Newton.Leibniz's notation has been widely used ever since it was published. It was only in the 20th century that his Law of Continuity and Transcendental Law of Homogeneity found mathematical implementation (by means of non-standard analysis). He became one of the most prolific inventors in the field of mechanical calculators. While working on adding automatic multiplication and division to Pascal's calculator, he was the first to describe a pinwheel calculator in 1685 and invented the Leibniz wheel, used in the arithmometer, the first mass-produced mechanical calculator. He also refined the binary number system, which is the foundation of virtually all digital computers.