Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz is an important figure in the history of philosophy and mathematics. Although his work was not fully appreciated during his day, he did much to advance the "thinking" on a variety of subjects. His fame was scarred by the infamous controversy with Isaac Newton on the subject of the discoverer of calculus. Leibniz's work encompassed a wide scope, ranging from philosopy to politics to mechanics and mathematics, but his most noteworthy accomplishment was the discovery of differential calculus and its highly efficient notation.

Leibniz was born July 1, 1646 in Leipzig, Germany into a family of renowned scholars. His father, Friedrich Leibniz, was a professor of philosophy at the University of Leipzig. By the age of seven, Leibniz was self-taught in Greek and Latin and "was something of a prodigy" (Meyer 2). During this time, he was taught Aristotle's logic and sought to improve it. These ideas became...