Mathematics
- Guillaume de l'Hôpital publishes Analyse des Infiniment Petits pour l'Intelligence des Lignes Courbes, the first textbook on differential calculus, including a statement of his rule for the computation of certain limits.
- Jakob Bernoulli and Johann Bernoulli solve the brachistochrone curve problem, the first result in the calculus of variations.
Read more about this topic: 1696 In Science
Famous quotes containing the word mathematics:
“It is a monstrous thing to force a child to learn Latin or Greek or mathematics on the ground that they are an indispensable gymnastic for the mental powers. It would be monstrous even if it were true.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“In mathematics he was greater
Than Tycho Brahe, or Erra Pater:
For he, by geometric scale,
Could take the size of pots of ale;
Resolve, by sines and tangents straight,
If bread and butter wanted weight;
And wisely tell what hour o’ th’ day
The clock doth strike, by algebra.”
—Samuel Butler (1612–1680)
“... though mathematics may teach a man how to build a bridge, it is what the Scotch Universities call the humanities, that teach him to be civil and sweet-tempered.”
—Amelia E. Barr (1831–1919)