Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Chronological Outline
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Beginnings in Cambridge
- 3 Newton states his claim: 1685
- 4 Leibniz encounters Newton: 1672–1676
- 5 The emergence of the calculus: 1677–1699
- 6 The outbreak: 1693–1700
- 7 Open warfare: 1700–1710
- 8 The philosophical debate
- 9 Thrust and parry: 1710–1713
- 10 The dogs of war: 1713–1715
- 11 War beyond death: 1715–1722
- Appendix: Newton's “Account of the Book entituled Commercium Epistolicum”
- Notes
- Index
10 - The dogs of war: 1713–1715
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Chronological Outline
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Beginnings in Cambridge
- 3 Newton states his claim: 1685
- 4 Leibniz encounters Newton: 1672–1676
- 5 The emergence of the calculus: 1677–1699
- 6 The outbreak: 1693–1700
- 7 Open warfare: 1700–1710
- 8 The philosophical debate
- 9 Thrust and parry: 1710–1713
- 10 The dogs of war: 1713–1715
- 11 War beyond death: 1715–1722
- Appendix: Newton's “Account of the Book entituled Commercium Epistolicum”
- Notes
- Index
Summary
Many years later Newton recollected for the benefit of Pierre Varignon:
In autumn 1713 I received from Mr Chamberlain (who then kept a correspondence with Mr Leibnitz) a flying paper in Latin dated 29 July 1713 …
John Chamberlayne certainly had some acquaintance with Newton and had exchanged letters about political affairs with Leibniz since 1710. He was a journalist, proprietor of an annual resembling Whittaker's Almanac, which had been begun by his father. However, it was only at the end of February 1714 that Chamberlayne wrote to Leibniz deploring the dispute between him and Newton, as though he had recently learned of it, and offering his services as a mediator “between two of the greatest Philosophers & Mathematicians of Europe.” Chamberlayne was the first of several aspirant mediators; but would he have waited four months or so before reacting to the message of the Charta Volans that he had passed on to Newton – even if it were the case that Leibniz (who was of course not supposedly the writer of the “flying paper”) had compromised his position by openly posting it to his friends? However this may be, Newton as yet gave no outward sign of its existence; he did not (so far as we can tell) acknowledge its existence before early April 1714, nor did he do so until he and John Keill and many others were aware that Leibniz's replies to the Commercium Epistolicum were appearing in the Continental literary periodicals.
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- Philosophers at WarThe Quarrel between Newton and Leibniz, pp. 202 - 231Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1980