1686 Archives - On This Day

Gottfried Leibniz was a mathematician and philosopher who was a native of Germany. He made important contributions in several areas including; mathematics, philosophy, engineering, physics and law. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential thinkers in the history of mathematics and other disciplines. He was also the inventor of a mechanical calculator.

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig on July 1^st 1646. He developed differential calculus using the ‘d’ notation, which is still widely used today. His discovery of calculus, which was published in 1684, was done independently of Isaac Newton. Leibniz published his work on integral calculus in 1686 using the familiar ∫ notation (long s). He also perfected the binary system of arithmetic. Today, almost all digital computers are based on the binary system.

Gottfried Leibniz, mathematician and philosopher, made the first use of the long s (∫) as a symbol of the integral in calculus in the year 1686 On This Day.

Photo by Peter Rosbjerg

The Fahrenheit temperature scale was developed in 1724 by Polish born physicist Daniel Fahrenheit. Up until 1960’s the Fahrenheit scale was the primary temperature standard for climatic, industrial and medical purposes in English-speaking countries. At that time most countries began to adopt the Celsius scale. The Celsius scale was developed by Swedish scientist Anders Celsius eighteen years after Fahrenheit had developed his scale. However the Fahrenheit scale is still used in the United States and some other countries.

Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit was born in 1686 in Danzig [Gdansk], Poland to German parents. Both of his parents died when he was fifteen years old and he was sent to Amsterdam to study business. Fahrenheit however, became interested in the study of physics and the manufacture of scientific instruments. He spent most of his life in the Netherlands but travelled widely throughout Europe.

Fahrenheit invented the mercury in glass thermometer in 1714. Ten years later in 1724 he developed a temperature scale which set freezing temperature of water at 32 degrees and boiling point at 212 degrees. He also invented the constant weight hydrometer and an instrument for measuring barometric pressure. Fahrenheit died in The Hague, Netherlands on September 16^th 1736 at the age of fifty.

Daniel Fahrenheit was born in Danzig [Gdansk], Poland in the year 1686 On This Day.