Two-track depictions of Leibniz's fictions
arXiv:2111.00922 · doi:10.1007/s00283-021-10140-3
Abstract
Leibniz described imaginary roots, negatives, and infinitesimals as useful fictions. But did he view such 'impossible' numbers as mathematical entities? Alice and Bob take on the labyrinth of the current Leibniz scholarship.
arXiv comment12 pages, to appear in The Mathematical Intelligencer
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Cited by in corpus (7)
- Leibniz on bodies and infinities: rerum natura and mathematical fictions
- Is pluralism in the history of mathematics possible?
- Historical infinitesimalists and modern historiography of infinitesimals
- When does a hyperbola meet its asymptote? Bounded infinities, fictions, and contradictions in Leibniz
- Three case studies in current Leibniz scholarship
- Evolution of Leibniz's thought in the matter of fictions and infinitesimals
- Of pashas, popes, and indivisibles