How Euler Did It

by Ed Sandifer
Foundations of Calculus
September 2006
As we begin a new academic year, many of us are introducing another generation of
students to the magic of calculus. As always, those of us who teach calculus are asking ourselves
again, What is the best way to begin calculus? More specifically, How do we start to teach
students what a derivative is? Some of us will start with slopes and others choose limits.
Among those who begin with limits, some will use epsilons and deltas and others will use a more
intuitive approach to the algebra of limits. A few might use non-standard analysis, as rigorously
presented in the wonderful book [K] by Jerome Kiesler. Newton began with fluxions, while
Leibniz used differentials and a differential triangle. Regular readers of this column, though,
know to ask How did Euler do it?
Almost as soon as it was invented (or, if you prefer, discovered) people began arguing
about its foundations. Leibniz looked for an algebraic basis for calculus, while Newton argued
in favor of geometric foundations. The controversy continued for more than a hundred years,
with key contributions from Berkeley and Lagrange, until most of the issues were finally
resolved in the time of Cauchy, Riemann and Weierstrass.
Euler published his differential calculus book, Institutiones calculi differentialis, [E212],
in 1755. The book has two parts. Euler describes the first part, nine chapters, 278 pages in the
original, as containing a complete explanation of this calculus. John Blanton translated this
part of the book into English in 2000, and most of the quotations used in this column are from
John Blantons edition. The second part of the book, 18 chapters, 602 pages, contains the use
of this calculus in finite analysis and in the doctrine of series. A translation of this part of the
book has not yet been published, though there are rumors that people are working on it.
When Euler sat down to write the Calculus differentialis, as it is commonly called, he had
to decide how to explain the foundations of calculus and the reasons calculus works. In his
preface he writes (in John Blantons translation, p. vii.):

[D]ifferential calculus is a method for determining the ratio of

the vanishing increments that any functions take on when the
variable, of which they are functions, is given a vanishing
increment.
This echoes with Newtonian sentiments. Vanishing increments sound like Newtons
evanescent quantities, and are open to Berkeleys sarcastic barbs, calling derivatives ghosts of
departed quantities. Euler, who learned his calculus from Johann Bernoulli, a follower of
Leibniz, understands these criticisms, and in the very next paragraph he writes
[D]ifferential calculus is concerned not so much with vanishing
increments, which indeed are nothing, but with the ratio and
mutual proportion. Since these ratios are expressed as finite
quantities, we must think of calculus as being concerned with finite
quantities.
Later (p. viii.) he writes
To many who have discussed the rules of differential
calculus, it has seemed that there is a distinction between
absolutely nothing and a special order of quantities infinitely small,
which do not quite vanish completely but retain a certain quantity
that is indeed less than any assignable quantity.
Euler seems to want it both ways. He wants to use infinite numbers, usually denoted i or
n, as well as infinitesimals (he calls them infinitely small,) usually denoted . He wants to take
their ratios, add, subtract and multiply them as if they matter, and then throw them away when it
suits his purposes. It is exactly the behavior that Berkeley was trying to discourage and that
Cauchy and Weierstrass eventually repaired.
Now that weve seen these philosophical underpinnings, lets look at how Euler teaches
us calculus.
Eulers Chapter 1 is On finite differences (De differentiis finites.) Euler gives us a
variable quantity x, and an increment . For now, is assumed to be finite. He asks how
substituting x + for x in a function transforms that function, and gives us the example
a+ x
a+ x +
is transformed into 2
.
2
2
2
2
a +x
a + x + 2 x +

The value x and its increment give an arithmetic sequence, x, x + , x+ 2, x + 3,

etc., and these, in turn, transform a function y into a sequence of values that he denotes y, yI, yII,
yIII, etc.

With this notation in place, he is ready to describe the first, and higher differences of the
function. This is apparently the first time the symbol for this purpose. The image below, from
The Euler Archive, shows Eulers definition of the higher differences:

Next we get some of the elementary properties of higher differences, starting with their
values in terms of the values of y.
y = y II 2 y I + y
y I = y III 2 y II + y I
3 y = y III 3y II + 3 y I y.

and so on up to 5th differences. He follows these with rules for sums and products:
If y = p + q then y = p + q , and
If y = pq then y = p q + q p.
By the end of this 24-page chapter, Euler has taught us to find differences of sums,
products and radicals involving polynomials, sines, cosines, logarithms and radicals, as well as
inverse differences, finding a function that has a given first difference.
In Chapter 2 Euler uses differences to study what he calls series. We would call them
sequences. Probably his most interesting result in the chapter is the discrete Taylor series.
Consider a sequence a , a I ,a II , etc., with indices 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. Let the first, second, third, etc.
differences be b, c, d, etc. Then the general term of index x is given by

a+

( x 1) b + ( x 1)( x 2 ) c + ( x 1)( x 2)( x 3) d + etc.

1

1 2

1 2 3

Eulers chapter 3, On the Infinite and the Infinitely Small, he returns to the
philosophical underpinnings of calculus. The chapter is 30 pages long, and is mostly a
fascinating philosophy-laced essay on the nature of infinites and infinitesimals in the real world.
In the 18th century, real numbers were not the free-standing axiomatized objects they became late
in the 19th century (thanks to Dedekind and his cuts). The properties of the real numbers were
expected to reflect the properties of the real world they describe. Hence, the debate between
Newton and Leibniz about whether real world objects are infinitely and continuously divisible
(Newton), or composed of indivisible ultimate particles (that Leibniz called monads) was also a
dispute over the nature of the real numbers. That, in turn, became a dispute about the nature and
foundations of calculus. Though their public argument was mostly about who first discovered
calculus, each also believed that the others version of calculus was based on false foundations.
After careful consideration, Euler eventually sides mostly with Newton and accepts the
reality of the infinite and infinitely small. The difficult part of this is that, if dx is an infinitely
small quantity, then
Since the symbol stands for an infinitely large quantity, we
have the equation
a
= .
dx
The truth of this is clear also when we invert:
a
= dx = 0 .

So, Euler is stuck with the paradox that the quantity dx is, in some sense, both zero and
not zero. He cannot resolve this paradox, so he has to figure out a way to avoid it.
To do this, he begins to use his results on differences from the first two chapters. When
he takes a sequence with an infinitely small quantity dx as its difference, then considers second
differences, he is forced to conclude that a / dx 2 is a quantity infinitely greater than a / dx , and
similarly for higher differences. We have, therefore, an infinity of grades of infinity, of which
each is infinitely greater than its predecessor.
Essentially, he introduces some rules for the use of infinite and infinitesimal quantities,
roughly equivalent to our techniques for manipulating limits. A quantity like a / dx : A / dx ,
where a and A are finite quantities (i.e., neither infinite nor infinitesimal) should not be resolved
by first dividing by dx, for that leads to / . This cannot be evaluated because, as he noted
above, there are many different sizes of infinity, and this expression doesnt tell us which size we
have. Instead, the quantity a / dx : A / dx should first be reduced to a/A, a ratio of finite
quantities.

Euler tells us that also it is possible not only for the product of an infinitely large
quantity and an infinitely small quantity to produce a finite quantity, but also that a product of
this kind can also be either infinitely large or infinitely small.
The last part of chapter 3 deals with issues of convergence. It could be the basis of some
future column.
Now that Euler believes he has convinced us of the logical integrity of his foundations, he
returns to his calculations with series and differences. He reminds us that, given a variable x, a
quantity y that depends on x, and an increment x = , then y has a difference of the form
y = y I y = P + Q 2 + R 3 + S 4 + etc.
dy
= P . Note that
dx
Euler and his contemporaries did calculus with differentials, dy and dx, and not with derivatives,
dy
. Euler explains how the higher coefficients, Q, R, S, etc., are related to higher differences,
dx
and hes ready to go with the rules of calculus.

Taking = dx , we get that dy=Pdx, or, as we would write it today,

Before he goes, though, he makes a remark to appease his Leibnizian friends by

criticizing Newtons fluxion notation. Newton would write y& , &y& or &&
y& where Euler would write
P, Q or R, or maybe dy, d 2 y or d 3 y . Euler writes that Newtons notation cannot be criticized
if the number of dots is small On the other hand, if many dots are required, much confusion
and even more inconvenience may be the result. As an example, he gives (and here, for the first
time, we dont follow Blantons translation) The tenth fluxion, though would be very
&&
&&
&&
inconveniently represented by &&
y , and our notation of d 10 y is much easier to understand.
With this, Euler sets out to give the usual rules of differential calculus, of course using
differentials instead of derivatives and, in part one, omitting all applications. This column is
about Eulers foundations of calculus, so we will leave out most of the content, for now. One of
Eulers examples, though, is particularly elegant, from chapter 6, On the Differentiation of
Transcendental Functions:
ex

If y = ee , then
ex

dy = e e ee e x dx.
x

It is visually striking if you write it on a blackboard and use a longer string of es.
Euler is sometimes criticized by modern mathematicians for what seems like a reckless
use of infinite and infinitesimal numbers in his calculations, and for ignoring the foundations of
calculus. What he writes in the Calculus differentialis, though, makes it clear that he was very

aware of the issues involved, and that he tried hard to resolve them. In fact, he himself believed
that he had indeed put calculus on a solid philosophical foundation.
Two generations after Euler, though, the way we build the foundations of mathematics
changed, and a philosophical basis was no longer accepted. The age of Cauchy and Weierstrass
sought less geometric and more axiomatic foundations, and Eulers approach was discarded as
insufficiently rigorous.
In the 20th century, though, Abraham Robinson developed non-standard analysis, and
showed how Eulers techniques could be made rigorous. Jerome Keisler, [K] in turn, used
Robinsons constructions to write a modern calculus text. It took 220 years, but Eulers Calculus
differentialis was eventually shown to have rigorous foundations. Now, if we want to, we can do
the way Euler did it.
References:
[E212]

[K]

Euler, Leonhard, Insitutiones calculi differentialis cum ejus usu in analysi finitorum ac doctrina serierum,
St. Petersburg, 1755. Reprinted in Opera Omnia, Series I vol 10. English translation of chapters 1 to 9 by
John Blanton, Springer, New York, 2000. Original is available online through The Euler Archive at
EulerArchive.org.
Keisler, H. Jerome, Elementary Calculus, Prindle, Weber & Schmidt, Boston, 1976. The entire book is
available (Free! under a Creative Commons License) at www.math.wisc.edu/~keisler/calc.html.

Ed Sandifer ([email protected]) is Professor of Mathematics at Western Connecticut State

University in Danbury, CT. He is an avid marathon runner, with 34 Boston Marathons on his
shoes, and he is Secretary of The Euler Society (www.EulerSociety.org). His new book, The
Early Mathematics of Leonhard Euler, will be published by the MAA in December, 2006, in
advance of the celebrations of Eulers tercentennial in 2007.

How Euler Did It is updated each month.

Copyright 2006 Ed Sandifer