| RefNo | MS/82/8a |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Copy letter from [Brook Taylor] to [Pierre Remond de] Montmort |
| Date | 14 February 1719 |
| Description | Reply to letter by [Jean Bernoulli] forwarded by [Pierre Remond de Montmort] and previously copied in MA/82/8.
Rejects [Jean Bernoulli]'s accusation of plagiarism made in "Epistola pro Eminente Mathematico" and a recent treatise on the Isoperimetric problem. Accuses Bernoulli of making personal attacks rather than spurring on mathematical pursuits as part of the mathematical controversies opposing [Isaac] Newton and [Gottfried] Leibniz and English v. continental mathematics. Refuses to make comparisons between his and Bernoulli's mathematical abilities and therefore rejecting the bet offered by Bernoulli. Comments on the vanity of Bernoulli and his lack of recognition for the personal contributions of various pupils [ [Pierre] Varignon, [Philippe] de la Hire, [Thomas Fantet] De Lagny]. Concludes: " it is not my business to compare myself, and to spend my time in disputes with any body: but to pursue my own curiosity, in the way that is most agreeable to me". |
| Extent | 4 pp. |
| Format | Manuscript |
| PhysicalDescription | Ink on paper |
| AccessStatus | Open |
| RelatedMaterial | Printed by Sir William Young in the appendix to the 'Contemplatio Philosophica' page 105 |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA6093 | Taylor; Brook (1685 - 1731) | 1685 - 1731 |
| NA7789 | Montmort; Pierre Remond de (1678 - 1719) | 1678 - 1719 |
| NA7378 | Bernoulli; Jean (1667 - 1748) | 1667 - 1748 |