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Functions Prior To Leibniz

1) The concept of a mathematical function was first coined by Gottfried Leibniz in 1673 to describe quantities related to curves, such as a curve's slope at a specific point. 2) By the early 18th century, mathematicians like Johann Bernoulli and Leonhard Euler had begun to consider functions as any expression involving variables and constants. 3) Notions of functions continued expanding to include "strange" objects like continuous functions that are nowhere differentiable, though these were initially seen as theoretical curiosities rather than common functions.

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Ainie Hazirah Aziz
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23 views1 page

Functions Prior To Leibniz

1) The concept of a mathematical function was first coined by Gottfried Leibniz in 1673 to describe quantities related to curves, such as a curve's slope at a specific point. 2) By the early 18th century, mathematicians like Johann Bernoulli and Leonhard Euler had begun to consider functions as any expression involving variables and constants. 3) Notions of functions continued expanding to include "strange" objects like continuous functions that are nowhere differentiable, though these were initially seen as theoretical curiosities rather than common functions.

Uploaded by

Ainie Hazirah Aziz
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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INTRODUCTION

Functions prior to Leibniz Historically, some mathematicians can be regarded as having foreseen and come close to a modern formulation of the concept of function. Among them is Oresme (13231382) . . . In his theory, some general ideas about independent and dependent variable quantities seem to be present.[1]
[2]

Ponte further notes that "The emergence of a notion of function as an individualized mathematical entity can be traced to the beginnings of infinitesimal calculus".[1] The notion of "function" in analysis As a mathematical term, "function" was coined by Gottfried Leibniz, in a 1673 letter, to describe a quantity related to a curve, such as a curve's slope at a specific point.[3][4] The functions Leibniz considered are today called differentiable functions. For this type of function, one can talk about limits and derivatives; both are measurements of the output or the change in the output as it depends on the input or the change in the input. Such functions are the basis of calculus. Johann Bernoulli "by 1718, had come to regard a function as any expression made up of a variable and some constants",[5] and Leonhard Euler during the mid-18th century used the word to describe an expression or formula involving variables and constants e.g., x2+3x+2.[6] Alexis Claude Clairaut (in approximately 1734) and Euler introduced the familiar notation " f(x) ".[6] At first, the idea of a function was rather limited. Joseph Fourier, for example, claimed that every function had a Fourier series, something no mathematician would claim today. By broadening the definition of functions, mathematicians were able to study "strange" mathematical objects such as continuous functions that are nowhere differentiable. These functions were first thought to be only theoretical curiosities, and they were collectively called "monsters" as late as the turn of the 20th century. However, powerful techniques from functional analysis have shown that these functions are, in a precise sense, more common than

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