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Events
Leibniz and the Sciences

MPI für Mathematik in den Naturwissenschaften Leipzig

E1 05 (Leibniz-Saal)

conference

14.11.16 16.11.16

Leibniz and the Sciences

The Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig, the Leibniz Endowed Professorship at the University of Hanover, and the University of Leipzig commemorate the tercentenary of Leibniz's death by organizing a conference on "Leibniz and the Sciences" in Leipzig.

Following a ceremonial act in cooperation with the City of Leipzig on November 14, 2016 - the actual tercentenary - on November 15 and 16 the conference will analyze the scientific ideas of Leibniz and their influence on modern science.

The aim of the conference is to bring together Mathematicians, Physicists, Historians, and Philosophers to jointly approach the oeuvre of one of the greatest scientists of mankind.

Special Sessions

Commemorative speech during ceremonial act on November 14, 2016
Location: "Festsaal" of "Altes Rathaus Leipzig"
Maria Rosa Antognazza, King's College London; during the summer term 2016 Leibniz Professor at Leipzig University: "Einheit in der Vielheit im Leben des Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz"
Panel discussion "Leibniz and Modern Physics"
Discussants: Richard Arthur (McMaster University), Martin Carrier (University of Bielefeld), Jürgen Jost (MPI MiS), Claus Kiefer (University of Cologne), Hans Poster (TU Berlin)

Speakers

Richard T.W. Arthur

McMaster University, Canada

Philip Beeley

University of Oxford, United Kingdom

François Duchesneau

Université de Montréal, Canada

Daniel Garber

Princeton University, USA

Eberhard Knobloch

Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Germany

Justin E. H. Smith

Université Paris Diderot - Paris VII, France

Andre Wakefield

Pitzer College, USA

Program

17:00 - 22:00

Commemorative speech during the ceremonial act on November 14, 2016 - in German:
Einheit in der Vielheit im Leben des Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz:
Maria Rosa Antognazza, King's College London; during the summer term 2016 Leibniz Professor at Leipzig University

Slides

09:00 - 09:20	Welcome coffee & registration
09:20 - 09:30	Welcome address by Vincenzo De Risi and Jürgen Jost
09:30 - 10:45	Daniel Garber (Princeton University, USA) Leibniz and geology: new light on the Steno connection
10:45 - 11:00	Coffee & tea
11:00 - 12:45	Richard T.W. Arthur (McMaster University, Canada) Leibniz and quantum theory
12:45 - 13:45	Lunch buffet at the institute
13:45 - 15:00	François Duchesneau (Université de Montréal, Canada) Leibniz’s dynamics and the role of architectonic principles in its development One of Leibniz's main achievements in natural science has been his invention of the 'dynamics.' Thanks to contemporary scholarship, we are presently in a better position than previously for tracing out the sequence of steps that resulted in the canonical formulations of this new 'science of power and action' in the 1690s, somewhat in parallel with the advent of Leibniz’s late metaphysics. Starting with the 1671 twofold Theoria motus, this story displays the close connection Leibniz’s early mechanics bore with the model, inspired by Hobbes, of a physics to be alternatively built a priori and a posteriori. The revised mechanics of the 1678 De corporum concursu as well as the demonstration of the vis viva principle in the 1686 Brevis demonstratio essentially followed the a posteriori way, but the twofold structure of arguments came back on stage in the 1689-1690 Dynamica as well as in later presentations. My enquiry concerns the successive versions of this twofold structure and the way architectonic principles were progressively called upon to formalize the theory of 'power and action' through the various phases of its complex methodological evolution.
15:00 - 15:30	Coffee & tea
15:30 - 17:15	Panel discussion: Leibniz and modern physics: Richard T.W. Arthur (McMaster University), Martin Carrier (University of Bielefeld), Jürgen Jost (MPI MiS), Claus Kiefer (University of Cologne)
19:30 -	Joint dinner (à la carte and on individual payment)

09:00 - 09:30	Welcome coffee
09:30 - 10:45	Eberhard Knobloch (Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Germany) Leibniz and the infinite
10:45 - 11:00	Coffee & tea
11:00 - 12:45	Philip Beeley (University of Oxford, United Kingdom) Leibniz and the Royal Society revisited Leibniz’s relationship with the Royal Society is one of tremendous contrast. His early approaches to Henry Oldenburg followed by his first visit to London in 1673 reflect the efforts of a young scholar seeking to make his mark on the leading scientific institution of his day. These efforts were crowned with his admission to the fellowship in April of that year. The contrast with some forty years later, when a committee of the Royal Society was established under Newton’s presidency to adjudicate on the dispute over the discovery of the calculus, leading to the publication of the Commercium epistolicum in 1712, could scarcely be greater. Leibniz’s relations with the Royal Society have been scrutinized before, notably through A. Rupert Hall, Marie Boas Hall, and Joseph Ehrenfried Hofmann. Since their pioneering studies further material has come to light, justifying that a fresh look be taken at this topic. This material, partly a result of ongoing work on critical editions of the letters of John Wallis and John Collins, Oldenburg’s most important advisers on mathematical affairs, will form the basis of my talk.
12:45 - 13:45	Lunch buffet at the institute
13:45 - 15:00	Justin E. H. Smith (Université Paris Diderot - Paris VII, France) Leibniz on organic bodies and living beings In this talk I will show why it is, strictly speaking, incorrect to speak of 'living bodies' in Leibniz's philosophy. For Leibniz, in the period of the controversy with G. E. Stahl, organic structure is precisely the feature of natural bodies that makes it possible to given an exhaustive account of them without any recourse to the concept of 'life'. Life, in turn, is invoked only to describe the activity of immaterial monads. Life is, thus, a feature of beings, not bodies. In this respect, the emerging science of biology, as Leibniz understands it, does not take a special interest in life as something that characterises a special subdomain of nature deserving of its own special science. Rather, for Leibniz, the study of the organic structure of bodies is at the heart of his conception of the science of nature in general.
15:00 - 15:30	Coffee & tea
15:30 - 16:45	Andre Wakefield (Pitzer College, USA) Machines and machinations: Leibniz in the Harz Between 1678 and 1686, Leibniz devoted an enormous amount of time and effort to the invention and development of a wind machine in the mines of the Harz Mountains. The general story is well known. Less well known is the bitter dispute he had with Pieter Hartsinck, a Dutch-Japanese mathematician and inventor, during that same period. In this talk, I present new archival information about the nature of that dispute, which sheds light on Leibniz’s activities as an inventor and projector. I also discuss the tortured historiography around this episode, and consider its meaning for Leibniz scholarship.

Participants

Maria Rosa Antognazza

King's College London

Richard T.W. Arthur

McMaster University, Canada

Philip Beeley

University of Oxford, United Kingdom

Ulrich Behn

U Leipzig, Germany

Martin Carrier

University of Bielefeld

Vincenzo De Risi

Leibniz Professor at Leipzig University

Annika Denkert

Springer-Verlag, Deutschland

François Duchesneau

Université de Montréal, Canada

Carlotta Ficorella

Leipzig Univerity, Germany

Daniel Garber

Princeton University, USA

Hans-Peter Gittel

University of Leipzig, Germany

Wolfgang Hackbusch

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany

Joachim Heinze

Springer, Germany

Stephen Howard

Kingston University, United Kingdom

Jürgen Jost

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany

Umut Deniz Kaçan

Bogazici University, Turkey

Claus Kiefer

University of Cologne

Eberhard Knobloch

Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Germany

Wenchao Li

University of Hanover

Xianqing Li-Jost

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany

Irma Lozada Chavez

University of Leipzig, Germany

Duc Luu

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany

Mattia Mantovani

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany

Eckehard Olbrich

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany

Dominik Otto

Fraunhofer IZI, Germany

Felix Otto

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany

Guillermo Restrepo

Universität Leipzig, Germany

Nancy Retzlaff

MPI MIS/Bioinformatics Leipzig, Germany

Sharwin Rezagholi

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany

Eris Runa

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany

Steve Russ

University of Warwick, United Kingdom

Armando Salvatore

McGill University, Canada

Friedrich Sauvigny

Brandenburgische Technische Universität Cottbus - Senftenberg, Germany

Matthias Schwarz

Leipzig University, Germany

Justin E. H. Smith

Université Paris Diderot - Paris VII, France

Pirmin Stekeler-Weithofer

Leipzig University

Rainer Stumpe

Privat, Deutschland

Omri Tal

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany

Tzuchien Tho

University of Milan, Italy

Jürgen Tolksdorf

Max Planck Institut for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany

Tat Dat Tran

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany

Karin Verelst

NIAS-KNAW, Netherlands

Pau Vilimelis Aceituno

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany

Volker Vogelsang

TU Clausthal, Deutschland

Andre Wakefield

Pitzer College, USA

Marius Emar Yamakou

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Deutschland

Odette Sylvia Yaptieu Djeungue

Max-Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany

Organizers

Jürgen Jost

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences

Wenchao Li

University of Hanover

Vincenzo De Risi

Leibniz Professor at Leipzig University

Matthias Schwarz

Leipzig University

Pirmin Stekeler-Weithofer

Leipzig University

Administrative Contact

Antje Vandenberg

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences Contact via Mail