Lacroix and the Calculus / Science Networks. Historical Studies Bd.35 (PDF)

Silvestre François Lacroix (Paris, 1765 - ibid., 1843) was a most influential mathematical book author. His most famous work is the three-volume Traité du calcul différentiel et du calcul intégral (1797-1800; 2^nd ed. 1810-1819) - an encyclopedic appraisal of 18th-century calculus which remained the standard reference on the subject through much of the 19^th century, in spite of Cauchy's reform of the subject in the 1820's.

Lacroix and the Calculus is the first major study of Lacroix's large Traité. It uses the unique and massive bibliography given by Lacroix to explore late 18^th-century calculus, and the way it is reflected in Lacroix's account. Several particular aspects are addressed in detail, including: the foundations of differential calculus, analytic and differential geometry, conceptions of the integral, and types of solutions of differential equations (singular/complete/general integrals, geometrical interpretations, and generality ofarbitrary functions).

Lacroix's large Traité... was adapted for teaching into a shorter, textbook version - the Traité élémentaire de calcul différentiel et de calcul intégral (1802; several later editions). This adaptation is also analysed.

Lacroix and the Calculus should appeal to historians and mathematicians interested in the history of the calculus (and especially in the background to Cauchy and Bolzano) and in its teaching in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries.