Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) - German philosopher, logician, mathematician, mechanic, physicist, lawyer, historian, diplomat, inventor and linguist. Founder and first president of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, foreign member of the French Academy of Sciences.
There are many interesting facts in Leibniz's biography, which we will tell about in this article.
So, before you is a short biography of Gottfried Leibniz.
Leibniz's biography
Gottfried Leibniz was born on June 21 (July 1) 1646 in Leipzig. He grew up in the family of the professor of philosophy Friedrich Leibnutz and his wife Katerina Schmuck.
Childhood and youth
Gottfried's talent began to show in his early years, which his father immediately noticed.
The head of the family encouraged his son to acquire various knowledge. In addition, he himself told interesting facts from the story, which the boy listened to with great pleasure.
When Leibniz was 6 years old, his father died, which was the first tragedy in his biography. After himself, the head of the family left a large library, thanks to which the boy could engage in self-education.
At that time, Gottfried got acquainted with the writings of the ancient Roman historian Livy and the chronological treasury of Calvisius. These books made a huge impression on him, which he retained for the rest of his life.
At the same time, the teenager studied German and Latin. He was much stronger in the knowledge of all his peers, which the teachers certainly noticed.
In his father's library, Leibniz found the works of Herodotus, Cicero, Plato, Seneca, Pliny and other ancient authors. He devoted all his free time to books, trying to gain more and more knowledge.
Gottfried studied at the Leipzig School of St. Thomas, showing excellent ability in the exact sciences and literature.
Once a 13-year-old teenager was able to compose a verse in Latin, built of 5 dactyls, achieving the desired sound of the words.
After leaving school, Gottfried Leibniz entered the University of Leipzig, and a couple of years later transferred to the University of Jena. During this period of his biography, he became interested in philosophy, law, and also showed an even greater interest in mathematics.
In 1663, Leibniz received a bachelor's degree and then a master's degree in philosophy.
Teaching
The first work of Gottfried "On the principle of individuation" was published in 1663. Few people know the fact that after graduation he worked as a hired alchemist.
The fact is that when the guy heard about the alchemical society, he wanted to be in it by resorting to cunning.
Leibniz copied the most confusing formulas from books on alchemy, after which he brought his own essay to the leaders of the Rosicrucian Order. When they got acquainted with the "work" of the young man, they expressed their admiration for him and proclaimed him an adept.
Later, Gottfried admitted that he was not ashamed of his act, since he was driven by irrepressible curiosity.
In 1667, Leibniz was carried away by philosophical and psychological ideas, reaching great heights in this area. A couple of centuries before the birth of Sigmund Freud, he managed to develop the concept of unconscious small perceptions.
In 1705, the scientist published "New Experiments on Human Understanding", and later his philosophical work "Monadology" appeared.
Gottfried developed a synthetic system assuming that the world consists of certain substances - monads, existing separately from each other. Monads, in turn, represent a spiritual unit of being.
The philosopher was a supporter of the fact that one should know the world through rational interpretation. Being, in his understanding, had harmony, but at the same time he strove to overcome the contradictions of good and evil.
Mathematics and Science
While in the service of the Elector of Mainz, Leibniz had to visit various European states. During such trips, he met the Dutch inventor Christian Huygens, who taught him mathematics.
At the age of 20, the guy published a book "On the Art of Combinatorics", and also took up questions in the field of mathematization of logic. Thus, he actually stood at the origins of modern computer science.
In 1673, Gottfried invented a calculating machine that automatically recorded the numbers to be processed in the decimal system. Subsequently, this machine became known as the Leibniz arithmometer.
An interesting fact is that one such adding machine ended up in the hands of Peter 1. The Russian tsar was so impressed with the outlandish apparatus that he decided to present it to the Chinese emperor.
In 1697 Peter the Great met Leibniz. After a long conversation, he ordered that the scientist be given a monetary reward and that he be awarded the title of Privy Counselor of Justice.
Later, thanks to the efforts of Leibniz, Peter agreed to build an Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg.
Gottfried's biographers report on his dispute with Isaac Newton himself, which occurred in 1708. The latter accused Leibniz of plagiarism when he carefully studied his differential calculus.
Newton claimed to have come up with similar results 10 years ago, but simply did not want to publish his ideas. Gottfried did not deny that in his youth he studied Isaac's manuscripts, but he allegedly arrived at the same results on his own.
Moreover, Leibniz developed a more convenient symbolism, which is still used today.
This squabble between the two great scientists became known as "the most shameful squabble in the entire history of mathematics."
In addition to mathematics, physics and psychology, Gottfried was also fond of linguistics, jurisprudence and biology.
Personal life
Leibniz quite often did not complete his discoveries, as a result of which many of his ideas were not completed.
The man looked at life with optimism, was impressionable and emotional. Nevertheless, he was notable for stinginess and greed, not denying these vices. Biographers of Gottfried Leibniz still cannot agree on how many women he had.
It is reliably known that the mathematician had romantic feelings for the Prussian queen Sophia Charlotte of Hanover. However, their relationship was extremely platonic.
After the death of Sophia in 1705, Gottfried could not find for himself the woman with whom he would be interested.
Death
In the last years of his life, Leibniz had a very tense relationship with the English monarch. They looked at the scientist as an ordinary historiographer, and the king was completely sure that he was paying for the works of Gottfried in vain.
Due to a sedentary lifestyle, the man developed gout and rheumatism. Gottfried Leibniz died on November 14, 1716 at the age of 70 without calculating the dose of the medicine.
Only his secretary came to the last journey of the mathematician.
Leibniz Photos
