en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_rule
1 correction found
The chain rule does not appear in any of Leonhard Euler's analysis books, even though they were written over a hundred years after Leibniz's discovery.
The timing is off: Euler’s analysis books were published in 1748, 1755, and completed in 1770, while Leibniz had discovered the rule for a “function of a function” by 1677. That makes them roughly 71–93 years later, not more than 100 years later.
Full reasoning
This sentence overstates the gap between Leibniz's discovery and Euler's analysis books.
A standard chronology source says that in 1677 Leibniz "discovers the rules for differentiating products, quotients, and the function of a function"—i.e., the chain rule. A Mathematical Association of America source on Euler's Introductio in Analysin Infinitorum says it was published in 1748, and that it introduced Euler's later calculus texts: Differential Calculus (1755) and Integral Calculus, completed in 1770.
Using those dates, Euler's relevant analysis books were written/published about 71 years after 1677 (1748), 78 years after 1677 (1755), and 93 years after 1677 (1770). Even if one uses the article's earlier mention of Leibniz's 1676 memoir, the latest of those books is still only 94 years later. So "over a hundred years after Leibniz's discovery" is not correct.
2 sources
- Chronology for 1675 - 1700 - MacTutor History of Mathematics
1677 Leibniz discovers the rules for differentiating products, quotients, and the function of a function.
- Mathematical Treasures - Euler's Analysis of the Infinite | Mathematical Association of America
Introductio in Analysin Infinitorum vol.I, published in 1748... It serves as an introduction to Euler's later series of texts on the calculus: Differential Calculus (1755) and Integral Calculus, completed in 1770.