History of Mathematics (London, 1901), p. 358.
[1027]. Foreshadowings of the principles and even of the language of [the infinitesimal] calculus can be found in the writings of Napier, Kepler, Cavalieri, Pascal, Fermat, Wallis, and Barrow. It was Newton’s good luck to come at a time when everything was ripe for the discovery, and his ability enabled him to construct almost at once a complete calculus.—Ball, W. W. R.
History of Mathematics (London, 1901), p. 356.
[1028]. Kepler’s suggestion of gravitation with the inverse distance, and Bouillaud’s proposed substitution of the inverse square of the distance, are things which Newton knew better than his modern readers. I have discovered two anagrams on his name, which are quite conclusive: the notion of gravitation was not new; but Newton went on.—De Morgan, A.
Budget of Paradoxes (London, 1872), p. 82.
[1029]. For other great mathematicians or philosophers, he [Gauss] used the epithets magnus, or clarus, or clarissimus; for Newton alone he kept the prefix summus.—Ball, W. W. R.
History of Mathematics (London, 1901), p. 362.
[1030]. To know him [Sylvester] was to know one of the historic figures of all time, one of the immortals; and when he was really moved to speak, his eloquence equalled his genius.—Halsted, G. B.
F. Cajori’s Teaching and History of Mathematics in the U. S. (Washington, 1890), p. 265.