Letter 1572

Leibniz replies to allegations that he stole Newton’s work. He complains that Nicolas Fatio de Duillier, the mathematician, has been publicly accusing him of taking credit for someone else’s work. He hopes the Royal Society and Newton will support him. Leibniz refers to John Keill, whose article from 1708 renewed the accusation that he purloined Newton’s ‘Calculi Fluxionum’. Newton knew this is not true. Leibniz never saw Newton’s work until it appeared in John Wallis’ work. He is willing to believe that Keill made a mistake and was not acting out of malice, but he is compelled to seek redress from the Royal Society. He requests that Keill retract his statements. Leibniz was a German mathematician and philosopher who contributed significantly to the development of each field among others (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottfried_Wilhelm_Leibniz).