The Mathematical Papers of Isaac Newton: Volume 5, 1683–1684

The fifth volume of this definitive edition centres around Newton's Lucasian lectures on algebra, purportedly delivered during 1673–83.

Isaac Newton (Author), D. T. Whiteside (Edited by)

9780521045841, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 3 January 2008

660 pages
24.4 x 3.4 x 17 cm, 1.04 kg

The fifth volume of this definitive edition centres around Newton's Lucasian lectures on algebra, purportedly delivered during 1673–83, and subsequently prepared for publication under the title Arithmetica Universalis many years later. Dr Whiteside first reproduces the text of the lectures deposited by Newton in the Cambridge University Library about 1684. In these much reworked, not quite finished, professional lectiones, Newton builds upon his earlier studies of the fundamentals of algebra and its application to the theory and construction of equations, developing new techniques for the factorizing of algebraic quantities and the delimitation of bounds to the number and location of roots, with a wealth of worked arithmetical, geometrical, mechanical and astronomical problems. An historical introduction traces what is known of the background to the parent manuscript and assesses the subsequent impact of the edition prepared by Whiston about 1705 and the revised version published by Newton himself in 1722. A number of minor worksheets, preliminary drafts and later augmentations buttress this primary text, throwing light upon its development and the essential untrustworthiness of its imposed marginal chronology.

Part I. The Deposited Lucasian Lectures on Algebra (Winter 1683–1684): Introduction
1. Preliminary notes and drafts for the 'Arithmetica'
2. The copy deposited in the Cambridge archives
Part II. The 'Arithmeticæ Universalis Liber Primus' (1684): Introduction
Index of Names

Subject Areas: Popular science [PDZ]