Calculus answers questions that had been explored for centuries before calculus was born calculus and its origins begins with these ancient questions and details the remarkable story of how subsequent scholars wove these inquiries into a unified theory this book does not presuppose knowledge of calculus it requires only a basic knowledge of geometry and algebra similar triangles polynomials factoring inside you will find the accounts of how archimedes discovered the area of a . Maa press an imprint of the american mathematical society calculus and its origins is primarily a collection of results that show how calculus came to be beginning in ancient greece and climaxing with the discovery of calculus other. Calculus known in its early history as infinitesimal calculus is a mathematical discipline focused on limits continuity derivatives integrals and infinite series isaac newton and gottfried wilhelm leibniz independently developed the theory of infinitesimal calculus in the later 17th century by the end of the 17th century each scholar claimed that the other had stolen his work and the leibniz newton calculus controversy continued until the death of leibniz in 1716. Calculus and its origins is an overview of calculus as an intellectual pursuit having a 2000 year history author david perkins examines the extent to which mathematicians and scholars from egypt persia and india absorbed and nourished greek geometry and details how the scholars wove their inquiries into a unified theory chapters cover the story of archimedes discovery of the area of a parabolic segment ibn al haytham s calculation of the volume of a revolved area jyesthadeva s