March 04, 2018 Sunday
Bedtime Story
The Controversy That Never Ended
Fatio very clearly in his book is not only
claiming Newton to the first who invented calculus but is also seen chastising
Leibniz of being a vociferous acclaimer of credit where none is due.
This greatly angered both Johann Bernoulli
and Leibniz and this only perpetuated the rivalry which persisted as long as the
protagonists existed.
The personal rivalry ended with the demise
of Leibniz in 1716, ten years before Newton would perish and return to soil but
the dispute has till day never been resolved.
It is odd that even after the demise of
both the main characters, the controversy always remained and the proponents of
each side continue to debate for their hero.
Newton’s final years were also not pleasant
as he suffered few nervous break downs in his final years.
The other noteworthy aspect to the story of
calculus is its effect on the relationship between the two Bernoulli brothers
Jacob and Johann, both staunch supporters of Leibniz and both in total love
with this new mathematical branch.
As I told you earlier, Jacob was senior to
Johann and was his mathematics mentor and they together had dived into the 1684
paper of Leibniz published in Acta Eruditorum.
Under the mentorship of Jacob, the hidden
mathematical talent of Johann began to flower and very soon the master-pupil
relationship began to turn not only into that of intellectual rivalry but perhaps
sibling rivalry as well.
As it was between Leibniz and Newton, so it
soon became between these two brothers, when they started attacking each other
in print and began to pose mathematical challenges to each other in journals.
And tragically exactly like Leibniz and
Newton, their relationship suffered irreversible breakdown by 1697.
This only goes on to show that even the
most talented and gifted humans are only apes in the end suffering from same
ailments of pride and hubris that afflicts almost all of us.
I hope you do not mind me talking so much
about Jacob Bernoulli because initially I had begun writing about him with the
intention of telling you a little bit about Bernoulli numbers that he had
discovered and which was used by Ada Lovelace for the Analytical Engine
Project.
But that is the whole point of the writings
of the story telling chimpanzee; to bring out the personalities and the bizarre
traits of human apes behind our entire history of science, mathematics,
religions, empires and most of all money.
Everything is so intertwined and complex that
all aspects are never brought out in a formal system of education that we all
go through.
It is impossible to totally grasp our
cultural history if we leave out even a single one of the above elements
because without it, you will know fragments but will be lacking any meaningful
and insightful comprehension.
For this reason, I would like to stay on
with Jacob Bernoulli for some time as the contribution of Jacob to mathematics
is far great than is appreciated.
And why give mathematics so much
importance?
Stay tuned to the voice of an average story storytelling
chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.com
Good night mon ami and my fellow cousin ape.
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Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
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