Isaac Newton, De methodis serierum et fluxionum, Mathematical Papers, 3, 32-353, as quoted by John Stillwell, Mathematics and Its History (1989)

Since the operations of computing in numbers and with variables are closely similar... I am amazed that it occurred to no one (if you except N. Mercator with his quadrature of the hyperbola) to fit the doctrine recently established for decimal numbers in similar fashion to variables, especially since the way is then open to more striking consequences. For since this doctrine in species has the same relationship to Algebra that the doctrine in decimal numbers has to common Arithmetic, its operations of Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division and Root extraction may be easily learnt from the latter's.

— Isaac Newton on History of calculus

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Since the operations of computing in numbers and with variables are closely similar... I am amazed that it occurred to no one (if you except N. Mercator with his quadrature of the hyperbola) to fit the doctrine recently established for decimal numbers in similar fashion to variables, especially since the way is then open to more striking consequences. For since this doctrine in species has the same relationship to Algebra that the doctrine in decimal numbers has to common Arithmetic, its operations of Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division and Root extraction may be easily learnt from the latter's." in the context of "Isaac Newton, De methodis serierum et fluxionum, Mathematical Papers, 3, 32-353, as quoted by John Stillwell, Mathematics and Its History (1989)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "History of calculus" (Quotes, M-P) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Isaac Newton

About Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton (January 4, 1643 – March 31, 1727 or in Old Style: December 25, 1642 – March 20, 1727) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the greatest mathematicians and physicists and among the most influential scientists of all time. He was a key figure in the philosophical revolution known as the Enlightenment. His book Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), first published in 1687, established classical mechanics. Newton also made seminal contributions to optics, and shares credit with German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz for developing infinitesimal calculus.