G. W. Leibniz — The tragic end of an Universal Genius
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz died lonely, in utter abandonment. Empty and deserted lay the vast, high-pitched house in Hanover, where the greatest thinker of the time was tormented with historical writing, as long as he could dissuade his old, gout-torn body another hour’s work. A stranger, who happened to be in the city, visited the big man, recognized his critical condition, and hurried to the pharmacy for medicine. But before he returned, Leibniz sensed the end approaching. He wanted to write something else but could not read it anymore. “Then he went to bed, covered his eyes, and died. It was on November 14, 1716, at ten o’clock in the evening. “
Even today, we do not know where his mortal remains are. His grave was not marked, and it says a lot that his exact location over the decades fell into oblivion. It is reported that a student from Göttingen sought the grave in 1775, and not even the sexton could show it to him.
“He was buried like a robber rather than what had been in truth, as the glory of his land,” wrote a foreigner whose name is unknown.
As tragic Leibniz’s life ended, the more princely that of Newton. A contemporary of Leibniz.
When Isaac Newton, eighty-four years old, closed his eyes, a whole kingdom mourned. Thousands paid him his last respects. The lord chancellor, dukes, and counts carried the coffin to the tomb, beside kings and church princes, political leaders, and the poets of the nation, the mortal shell of this giant spirit laid to eternal rest in Westminster Abbey. His epitaph closes with the words: “Let mortals congratulate themselves that so great an ornament of the human race has existed.”
Both independently developed the calculus. The Newtonian variant (Fluxions) was complicated and time-consuming. On the other hand, the Leibnizian (nowadays taught in school as far as formalism is concerned) was elegant and simple. Out of pride and arrogance, the English renounced the classic Leibnizian variant. For more than a hundred years, they were excluded from the progress of calculus and, inhibited by Newton’s cumbersome method, made the whole of the eighteenth century barely worth mentioning.
“On awakening, I had so many ideas that the day was not enough to write them down.”
This is how Leibniz once characterized himself. And indeed, in his vast estate, there are plans for water pumps, street lighting, even a submarine. For example, he has developed a binary system that allows the representation of all numbers using zero and one (the foundation of modern computer technology). All of the many theoretical papers make it clear that he was well versed in almost all areas of science of his time.
The “Theodicy” is the only larger typeface published by Leibniz himself. Otherwise, the universal genius literally “got bogged down.” He left more than 20,000 letters and well over 100,000 handwritten notes.
Not even half of his writings have been spotted, let alone edited.
I could go on writing about Leibniz endlessly, but that should be enough for today. The last words belong to Denis Diderot:
“When you return to yourself and compare the talents you received with those of Leibniz, you’re tempted to throw the books away and quietly die into some hidden corner of the world.”
Let’s all go to a hidden world angle.
(this text is an excerpt(bonus article) from the Book: INSIDE ALAN TURING: QUOTES & CONTEMPLATIONS)
This might be also of interest (my latest book on Mindful-AI):
Link (amazon): THE AI THOUGHT BOOK: Inspirational Thoughts & Quotes on Artificial Intelligence
