Math Department (Thesis/2009-10)

Did Ancient Greek Mathematicians invent Calculus?

Under the direction of: Julius Barbanel

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Most mathematical historians agree that abstract mathematics began with the ancient Greeks. Students interested in a senior thesis in ancient Greek mathematics will have a number of specific areas from which to choose.

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Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz (both working in the late 17th and early 18th centuries) are generally considered to be the inventors of calculus. However, work of the ancient Greek mathematics Eudoxus and Archimedes (who worked in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, respectively) looks a whole lot like integral calculus. Eudoxus developed the "Method of Exhaustion," which used an idea very close to the notion of a limit, to compute areas and volumes. Archimedes greatly extended this method, and also developed what has become know as "The Mechanical Method" for studying areas and volumes and involves "adding" together an infinite number of infinitesimally small slices. Should Eudoxus and Archimedes be credited with inventing integral calculus?

Math Department web pages Created: 11 May 2009 Last modified: 11 May 2009 00:00:00 Comments to: math@union.edu

Thesis Topics - P. Friedman Thesis Topics for 2009-2010 Thesis Topics - J. Barbanel