Thread: History of Differential Equations

Hi,

Where can I find info to the following questions:

1. Who invented Differential Equations?
2. When was it invented?
3. Why was it invented?
4. What are the practical uses of Differential Equations?
5. How is it applied to in economics, engineering, physics

This is for a class presentation, and I would like to start off by answering these questions. So far I've only found Wikipedia but Im finding difficulty in finding info from reputable sources.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Originally Posted by sparky

Hi,

Where can I find info to the following questions:

1. Who invented Differential Equations?
2. When was it invented?
3. Why was it invented?
4. What are the practical uses of Differential Equations?
5. How is it applied to in economics, engineering, physics

This is for a class presentation, and I would like to start off by answering these questions. So far I've only found Wikipedia but Im finding difficulty in finding info from reputable sources.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Did you check the resources at the bottom of the Wikipedia page?

A simple Google search yields History of differential equations - Encyclopedia of Humanthermodynamics and The History of Differential Equations,1670.

The history of DE's is inextricably tied to the history of calculus. You might crack open Carl Boyer's history of calculus for some info there.