Institut de Recherche sur l'Enseignement des Mathématiques de Paris

Leibniz's infinitesimal analysis will be compared to Newton's use of fluxions as well as the corresponding theory of today. There are different levels of abstraction. When a historical development has been made, earlier (that is, lower) levels of abstraction tend to be invisible. This implies a certain tendency to misunderstand the earlier mathematical achievement. To a certain extent, exactly this has happened to Leibniz's analysis. Therefore the distinction between these levels of abstraction will be in the center of the talk.