Lacroix and the Calculus - João Caramalho Domingues

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Résumé :
Silvestre Fran?ois Lacroix (Paris, 1765 - ibid., 1843) was a most influential mathematical book author. His most famous work is the three-volume Trait? du calcul diff?rentiel et du calcul int?gral (1797-1800...

Sommaire:
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 Trait?. 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)....