Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (also spelled Leibnitz; born July 1, 1646 [Old Style: June 21] – died November 14, 1716) was a German scholar who worked as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist, and diplomat. He is known, along with Isaac Newton, for developing calculus, as well as other areas of mathematics, such as binary arithmetic and statistics. Leibniz was called the "last universal genius" because he had knowledge in many fields, which became less common after the Industrial Revolution and the rise of specialized jobs. He is an important figure in the history of philosophy and mathematics. He wrote about many subjects, including philosophy, theology, ethics, politics, law, history, language, games, music, and other studies. Leibniz also made important contributions to physics and technology, and he introduced ideas that later appeared in probability theory, biology, medicine, geology, psychology, linguistics, and computer science.

Leibniz helped improve library science by creating a cataloging system at the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel, Germany. This system became a model for many large European libraries. His work on many subjects was spread across thousands of letters, unpublished manuscripts, and learned journals. He wrote in several languages, mostly Latin, French, and German.

As a philosopher, Leibniz was a key figure in 17th-century rationalism and idealism. As a mathematician, his most important achievement was creating differential and integral calculus independently of Newton’s similar work. Leibniz’s notation is widely used as the standard way to express calculus. In addition to calculus, he developed the modern binary number system, which is the foundation of modern communication and digital computing (though the English astronomer Thomas Harriot had created the same system earlier). He also imagined the field of combinatorial topology as early as 1679 and helped start the study of fractional calculus.

In the 20th century, Leibniz’s ideas about the law of continuity and the transcendental law of homogeneity were used in a mathematical method called non-standard analysis. He was also an early inventor of mechanical calculators. While trying to add automatic multiplication and division to Pascal’s calculator, he described the first pinwheel calculator in 1685 and invented the Leibniz wheel, which was later used in the arithmometer, the first mass-produced mechanical calculator.

In philosophy and theology, Leibniz is best known for his belief that our world is, in a specific way, the best possible world that God could have created. This idea was criticized by some thinkers, like Voltaire, in his book Candide. Leibniz, along with René Descartes and Baruch Spinoza, was one of the most influential early modern rationalists. His philosophy also included ideas from the scholastic tradition, such as the belief that knowledge can be gained by reasoning from basic principles. His work influenced modern logic and continues to affect contemporary analytic philosophy, including the use of the term "possible world" to explain ideas like possibility and necessity.

Biography

Gottfried Leibniz was born on July 1, 1646 (Old Style: June 21), in Leipzig, a city in the Electorate of Saxony, which is now part of the German state of Saxony. He was the son of Friedrich Leibniz (1597–1652) and Catharina Schmuck (1621–1664). He was baptized two days later at St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig. His godfather was Martin Geier, a Lutheran theologian. His father died when Leibniz was six years old, and he was raised by his mother.

Leibniz’s father had been a professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Leipzig and served as a dean of philosophy there. Leibniz inherited his father’s personal library, which he could access freely from the age of seven, shortly after his father’s death. While his schoolwork focused on a limited set of required texts, the library allowed him to study advanced philosophical and theological works that he would not have otherwise read until college. The library, mostly in Latin, helped him become fluent in Latin by age 12. At age 13, he wrote 300 lines of Latin verse in one morning for a school event.

In April 1661, at age 14, Leibniz enrolled at the University of Leipzig, his father’s former university. He studied under Jakob Thomasius, who had once been a student of Leibniz’s father. Leibniz earned his bachelor’s degree in Philosophy in December 1662. In June 1663, he defended his thesis, Metaphysical Disputation on the Principle of Individuation, which discussed the principle of individuation and introduced an early version of monadic substance theory. He earned his master’s degree in Philosophy in February 1664. In December 1664, he published and defended a dissertation titled An Essay of Collected Philosophical Problems of Right, arguing for the connection between philosophy and law. After one year of legal studies, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Law in September 1665, with a dissertation titled On Conditions.

In early 1666, at age 19, Leibniz wrote his first book, On the Combinatorial Art, which was also his habilitation thesis in Philosophy. He defended it in March 1666. The book was inspired by Ramon Llull’s Ars Magna and included a proof of God’s existence based on the argument from motion.

Leibniz next aimed to earn his license and doctorate in Law, which usually required three years of study. However, the University of Leipzig refused to grant him a doctorate in Law in 1666, likely because he was too young. He then left Leipzig and enrolled at the University of Altdorf. He quickly submitted a thesis titled Inaugural Disputation on Ambiguous Legal Cases. In November 1666, he earned his license to practice law and his doctorate in Law. He later declined an academic position at Altdorf, saying his interests had shifted.

As an adult, Leibniz often introduced himself as “Gottfried von Leibniz.” Some published editions of his work listed his name as “Freiherr G. W. von Leibniz.” However, no documents from his time show he was officially granted nobility.

Leibniz’s first job was as a salaried secretary to an alchemical society in Nuremberg. He had limited knowledge of alchemy but presented himself as an expert. He soon met Johann Christian von Boyneburg, a former chief minister of the Elector of Mainz. Von Boyneburg hired Leibniz as an assistant and later introduced him to the Elector. Leibniz wrote an essay on law for the Elector, which helped him secure a position assisting in the redrafting of the legal code for the Electorate. In 1669, he became an assessor in the Court of Appeal. After von Boyneburg’s death in 1672, Leibniz remained employed by von Boyneburg’s widow until she dismissed him in 1674.

Von Boyneburg helped raise Leibniz’s reputation, and his writings and letters began to gain attention. After working for the Elector, Leibniz took on a diplomatic role. He published an essay under the name of a fictional Polish nobleman, advocating for a German candidate for the Polish crown. At the time, Louis XIV of France was a major European power, and the Thirty Years’ War had left German-speaking Europe weakened. Leibniz proposed a plan to distract France by offering Egypt as a stepping stone for a future conquest of the Dutch East Indies in exchange for French non-interference in Germany and the Netherlands. The Elector supported the idea cautiously. In 1672, Leibniz was invited to Paris to discuss the plan, but the outbreak of the Franco-Dutch War made it irrelevant. Napoleon’s failed invasion of Egypt in 1798 later resembled Leibniz’s idea, though it came too late.

In 1672, Leibniz went to Paris. There, he met Christiaan Huygens, a Dutch physicist and mathematician, and realized he needed to improve his knowledge of math and physics. With Huygens as a mentor, he studied intensely and made major contributions to both fields, including developing his own version of calculus. He also met French philosophers Nicolas Malebranche and Antoine Arnauld and studied the works of Descartes and Pascal. He became friends with Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, a German mathematician, and they remained in contact for life.

When France did not follow through on Leibniz’s plan, the Elector sent his nephew to London with Leibniz as an advisor. In London, Leibniz met Henry Oldenburg and John Collins and demonstrated a calculating machine he had designed since 1670. The machine could perform all four basic operations (adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing). The Royal Society made him an external member after seeing his work.

The mission ended when the Elector

Philosophy

Leibniz’s philosophical ideas seem scattered because most of his writings are short pieces, such as journal articles, letters, and manuscripts published long after his death. He wrote two long philosophical works, but only one, the Théodicée (a work about why evil exists in the world), was published during his lifetime.

Leibniz considered his Discourse on Metaphysics, written in 1686, as the start of his philosophical career. This work was a response to a debate between Nicolas Malebranche and Antoine Arnauld. Leibniz had a long letter exchange with Arnauld, but these writings were not published until the 19th century. In 1695, Leibniz introduced his ideas to the European philosophical world with a journal article titled New System of the Nature and Communication of Substances. Between 1695 and 1705, he wrote New Essays on Human Understanding, a detailed commentary on John Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690). After learning of Locke’s death in 1704, Leibniz lost interest in publishing his work, and it was not published until 1765. The Monadologie, written in 1714, was published after his death and includes 90 short statements called aphorisms.

Leibniz also wrote a short paper titled Primae veritates (meaning “first truths”), which was first published in 1903 by Louis Couturat. This paper summarized his views on metaphysics. It was undated, but scholars later discovered he wrote it in Vienna in 1689 after reviewing his complete writings from 1677 to 1690. Couturat’s interpretation of this paper influenced many 20th-century philosophers, especially analytic philosophers. However, after studying Leibniz’s writings up to 1688, Mercer (2001) disagreed with Couturat’s interpretation.

Leibniz met Baruch Spinoza in 1676, read some of Spinoza’s unpublished works, and was influenced by some of his ideas. Though he admired Spinoza’s intelligence, he was troubled by Spinoza’s conclusions, especially those that conflicted with Christian beliefs.

Unlike Descartes and Spinoza, Leibniz had a university education in philosophy. He studied under Jakob Thomasius, a professor in Leipzig, who also supervised his philosophy thesis. He also read Francisco Suárez, a Spanish Jesuit respected in Lutheran universities. Leibniz was interested in the new scientific methods of Descartes, Huygens, Newton, and Boyle, but his education in traditional philosophy shaped how he viewed their work.

Leibniz used seven key philosophical principles in his thinking:

• Identity/Contradiction: If a statement is true, its opposite is false, and vice versa.
• Identity of Indiscernibles: If two things share all the same properties, they are the same thing. This idea is often used in modern logic but has been debated in science.
• Sufficient Reason: Everything must have a reason for existing or happening.
• Pre-established Harmony: Each object in the universe acts as if it knows what other objects are doing, without directly affecting them.
• Law of Continuity: Nature does not make sudden jumps.
• Optimism: God always chooses the best possible outcome.
• Plenitude: The best possible world includes all real possibilities.

Leibniz often used these principles without explaining them in detail.

Leibniz’s most famous contribution to metaphysics is his theory of monads, explained in the Monadologie. He believed the universe is made of an infinite number of simple substances called monads. Unlike atoms, monads have no parts and are not affected by time or space. Each monad is unique and changes over time. They are centers of force, and space, matter, and motion are only appearances. Leibniz argued that space and time are relative, not absolute, as Newton believed. Einstein, who called himself a “Leibnizian,” wrote that Leibniz’s ideas were better than Newton’s, but they were not widely accepted due to limited technology at the time.

In the Théodicée, Leibniz explained how God’s existence can be proven. He argued that the universe must have a necessary reason for existing, and that reason is God. Using a geometry book as an example, he said that even if a book was copied endlessly, there must be a reason for its content. He concluded that the ultimate reason is “monas monadum,” or God.

Monads are simple and indivisible, unlike atoms. They do not interact directly but follow their own rules, called “instructions,” which guide their behavior. This idea, called pre-established harmony, means each monad acts as if it knows what other monads are doing. Monads are like tiny mirrors of the universe. Humans are also monads, which raises questions about free will.

Leibniz’s theory of monads aimed to solve problems in other philosophers’ ideas:
– The difficulty of explaining how mind and matter interact, as in Descartes’ system.
– The lack of clear differences between individuals in Spinoza’s system.

The Théodicée argues that the world, though imperfect, is the best possible one, as it contains all real possibilities.

Mathematics

Leibniz was the first person to use the term "function" clearly in 1692 and 1694. Before this, the idea of a function was only implied in tools like trigonometric and logarithmic tables. He used the term to describe several geometric ideas connected to curves, such as abscissa, ordinate, tangent, chord, and perpendicular. By the 18th century, the word "function" no longer had strong connections to geometry. Leibniz also helped start the field of actuarial science by calculating the cost of life annuities and how to pay off a state's debt.

Leibniz's work on formal logic, which is important in mathematics, is explained in an earlier section. A detailed overview of his writings on calculus can be found in Bos's 1974 book.

Leibniz created one of the first mechanical calculators. He once said, "It is not right for great people to waste time doing calculations that machines can do."

Leibniz organized the numbers in a system of linear equations into a grid, now called a matrix, to solve the equations. This method became known as Gaussian elimination. He also developed the theory of determinants, even though a Japanese mathematician named Seki Takakazu discovered them independently. Leibniz used a method involving cofactors to calculate determinants, which is now called the Leibniz formula. However, this method becomes impractical for large matrices because it requires calculating many products. He also used determinants to solve systems of equations, a method now called Cramer's rule. Leibniz discovered this method in 1684, while Cramer published his work in 1750. Although Gaussian elimination requires fewer steps, many math textbooks still teach cofactor expansion before other methods.

Leibniz's formula for π is a series that adds and subtracts fractions to approximate π. He wrote that circles can be described using this series. However, the formula is not very efficient and needs many terms to get an accurate result. For example, it would take 10,000,000 terms to calculate π/4 to 8 decimal places. Leibniz also tried to define a straight line while working on the parallel postulate. Most mathematicians defined a straight line as the shortest path between two points, but Leibniz thought this was a property, not the definition.

Leibniz and Isaac Newton are both credited with inventing calculus. According to Leibniz's notes, he used integral calculus for the first time on November 11, 1675, to find the area under a curve. He introduced symbols still used today, like the integral sign ∫, which comes from the Latin word summa, and the notation dy/dx for derivatives, from the Latin word differentia. Leibniz did not publish his work on calculus until 1684. He showed the relationship between integration and differentiation, now called the fundamental theorem of calculus, in a 1693 paper. James Gregory, Isaac Barrow, and Isaac Newton also contributed to this idea. Leibniz's notation made the concept clearer. The product rule in calculus is still called "Leibniz's law," and the rule for differentiating under an integral is called the Leibniz integral rule.

Leibniz used infinitesimals in his calculus, treating them as if they had special algebraic properties. George Berkeley criticized this in his writings, but a recent study says Leibniz's approach was logically sound.

Leibniz introduced fractional calculus in a letter to Guillaume de l'Hôpital in 1695. He also discussed derivatives of "general order" with Johann Bernoulli. In a letter to John Wallis in 1697, Leibniz suggested using calculus to find an infinite product for π/2. He used the notation d¹/²y to represent a derivative of order 1/2.

From 1711 until his death, Leibniz argued with John Keill, Newton, and others about whether he discovered calculus independently of Newton.

Infinitesimals were not widely accepted by followers of Karl Weierstrass, but they remained useful in science and engineering. Abraham Robinson later created a rigorous way to use infinitesimals in the 1960s, using a system called non-standard analysis. This supported Leibniz's original ideas.

Leibniz was the first to use the term "analysis situs," which later became known as topology. Some scholars, like Mates, say this term was not directly related to modern topology. Others, like Hideaki Hirano, argue that Leibniz's ideas about self-similarity and continuity influenced later work, such as fractal geometry. Leibniz described a straight line as a curve where every part is similar to the whole, a concept that foreshadowed topology. He also imagined filling a circle with smaller circles infinitely, showing self-similarity. In 1679, he wrote about creating a system to describe geometric properties, which was an early idea for combinatorial topology.

Science and engineering

Leibniz's writings are still studied today, not only because they include ideas that were ahead of their time or discoveries that were not yet known, but also because they help improve modern knowledge. Many of his physics-related writings are found in Gerhardt's Mathematical Writings.

Leibniz made significant contributions to the study of statics and dynamics during his time, often disagreeing with Descartes and Newton. He created a new theory of motion (dynamics) based on kinetic energy and potential energy, which suggested that space is relative. Newton, however, believed space was absolute. A key example of Leibniz's later work in physics is his Specimen Dynamicum from 1695.

Before the discovery of subatomic particles and the field of quantum mechanics, many of Leibniz's ideas about parts of nature that could not be explained by statics and dynamics seemed unclear. For example, he predicted that space, time, and motion are relative, not absolute, an idea that later matched Albert Einstein's theories. He once said, "I hold space to be something merely relative, as time is, that I hold it to be an order of coexistences, as time is an order of successions."

Leibniz believed space and time were not separate entities but systems of relationships between objects, unlike Newton's view that space and time existed independently. Later discoveries in physics, such as general relativity, have supported Leibniz's ideas.

One of Leibniz's goals was to rework Newton's theory using a vortex model. However, his work went further, as it aimed to explain the cohesion of matter, a major challenge in physics.

The principle of sufficient reason has been used in modern cosmology, and his idea of the identity of indiscernibles has appeared in quantum mechanics, a field some say he may have predicted. His contributions to calculus also greatly influenced physics.

Leibniz's vis viva (living force) is represented by mv², twice the modern formula for kinetic energy. He believed energy was conserved in mechanical systems and considered it an inherent property of matter. His ideas sometimes caused disputes, as they competed with Newton's conservation of momentum in England and Descartes' and Voltaire's views in France. In reality, both energy and momentum are conserved in closed systems, and Einstein's General Relativity later showed that they are conserved together as part of the energy-momentum tensor.

Leibniz proposed that Earth has a molten core, an idea later supported by modern geology. In embryology, he suggested that organisms result from combinations of microstructures and their properties. He also had insights into the transformation of life forms, inspired by his study of anatomy and fossils. His work Protogaea, published posthumously, discussed early theories about life. In medicine, he encouraged doctors to base their work on observations and experiments, distinguishing science from metaphysics.

Psychology was a major interest for Leibniz. He wrote about topics now studied in psychology, such as attention, memory, learning, motivation, and development. He used everyday examples, like the behavior of a dog or the sound of the sea, and developed principles like the continuum of unnoticed perceptions to conscious awareness. He also proposed that the mind and body operate independently but in harmony, a concept related to the mind-body problem. Leibniz did not use the term "psychologia," but his ideas challenged John Locke's belief that all knowledge comes from the senses. He argued that some ideas, like logical reasoning, exist beyond sensory experience.

Wilhelm Wundt, the founder of psychology as a science, was Leibniz's most important interpreter. Wundt used a quote from Leibniz on the title page of his work and wrote extensively about him. Wundt developed the concept of apperception, which Leibniz introduced, into a psychological theory involving experiments and brain modeling. Leibniz's idea of "the principle of equality of separate but corresponding viewpoints" influenced Wundt's thinking about multiple perspectives. Leibniz also proposed that unconscious perceptions exist, an idea that later contributed to the concept of the unconscious mind. His work influenced Ernst Platner, who coined the term Unbewußtseyn (unconscious), and inspired the study of subliminal stimuli. Leibniz's ideas about music and sound perception also influenced Wundt's laboratory experiments.

In public health, he…

Law and morality

Leibniz's writings on law, ethics, and politics were not widely studied by English-speaking scholars for a long time, but this has changed.

Leibniz did not support absolute monarchy as Hobbes did, nor did he agree with the political ideas of John Locke, whose views were used to support liberalism in 18th-century America and later. A letter Leibniz wrote in 1695 to Philipp Boyneburg reveals his political beliefs.

In 1677, Leibniz proposed a European confederation led by a council or senate, where members would represent nations and vote freely based on their beliefs. This idea is sometimes seen as an early vision of the European Union. He also believed Europe would eventually adopt a single religion. He repeated these ideas in 1715.

At the same time, Leibniz worked to create a system of justice that respected different religions and cultures. This required him to use knowledge from many areas, including linguistics, philosophy, economics, and politics.

Leibniz studied law but was influenced by Erhard Weigel, a supporter of Cartesian ideas. Weigel encouraged using mathematical methods to solve legal problems. This influence is seen in Leibniz’s works, such as the Specimen Quaestionum Philosophicarum ex Jure collectarum and the Disputatio Inauguralis de Casibus Perplexis in Jure, which used combinatorics to address legal issues.

The use of combinatorial methods to solve legal and moral problems may have been inspired by Ramón Llull, who used a universal system of reasoning to address religious disputes.

In the late 1660s, Prince-Bishop Johann Philipp von Schönborn of Mainz sought to reform the legal system and offered a position for a law commissioner. Leibniz traveled to Mainz before securing the role. While there, he wrote The New Method of Teaching and Learning the Law, which proposed changes to legal education. The text combined ideas from Thomism, Hobbesianism, Cartesianism, and traditional jurisprudence. Leibniz argued that legal teaching should help students discover their own public reason, not simply memorize rules. This idea impressed von Schönborn, who hired him.

While working in Mainz from 1667 to 1672, Leibniz aimed to find a universal rational basis for law. He began with Hobbes’ ideas about power but later used logical and combinatorial methods to define justice. His work Elementa Juris Naturalis introduced ideas about possibility and necessity, which may have been early versions of his theory of "possible worlds" within a legal framework. Though the work was never published, Leibniz continued refining and sharing its ideas until his death.

Leibniz also worked to unite the Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches, following the example of his early supporters, Baron von Boyneburg and Duke John Frederick, who were Lutherans who later converted to Catholicism. These efforts involved communication with French bishop Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet and led to theological debates. Leibniz believed that applying reason thoroughly could resolve the divisions caused by the Reformation.

Philology

Leibniz, a philologist, was very interested in languages and eagerly studied vocabulary and grammar. In 1710, he used ideas about gradual change and uniformity in a short essay about linguistics. He disagreed with the belief, common among Christian scholars at the time, that Hebrew was the original language of all humans. He also rejected the idea that different language groups were unrelated and believed they all shared a common origin. He opposed the claim, made by Swedish scholars, that a form of early Swedish was the ancestor of Germanic languages. He tried to understand the origins of Slavic languages and was interested in classical Chinese. Leibniz also knew a lot about the Sanskrit language. He published the princeps editio ("first modern edition") of the late medieval Chronicon Holtzatiae, a Latin chronicle about the County of Holstein.

Sinophilia

Leibniz was one of the first important European thinkers to study Chinese culture closely. He learned about China by communicating with European Christian missionaries who lived in China and by reading their writings. He read a book called Confucius Sinarum Philosophus in the year it was first published. He believed that Europeans could learn valuable lessons from the Confucian tradition of ethics. He considered the possibility that Chinese characters might accidentally represent his idea of a universal system of symbols. He noticed that the hexagrams in the I Ching match the binary numbers from 000000 to 111111, and he saw this as proof of significant Chinese achievements in a type of mathematical philosophy he admired. Leibniz shared his ideas about the binary system and its connection to Christianity with the Emperor of China, hoping it might persuade him to adopt the religion. Leibniz was one of the Western philosophers of his time who tried to connect Confucian ideas with European beliefs.

Leibniz’s interest in Chinese philosophy came from his belief that it shared similarities with his own ideas. The historian E.R. Hughes suggests that Leibniz’s concepts of "simple substance" and "pre-established harmony" were influenced by Confucianism, as these ideas were developed during the time he was reading Confucius Sinarum Philosophus.

Polymath

While traveling across Europe to study the history of the Brunswick family, which he never finished, Leibniz visited Vienna between May 1688 and February 1689. During his time there, he performed legal and diplomatic tasks for the Brunswicks. He toured mines, spoke with mining engineers, and worked to arrange contracts for exporting lead from royal mines in the Harz mountains. His idea to light Vienna’s streets with lamps using oil from rapeseed plants was put into action. During a formal meeting with the Austrian Emperor and in later written reports, he suggested changes to Austria’s economy, reforms for coinage in much of central Europe, a agreement between the Habsburgs and the Vatican, and the creation of a royal research library, official archive, and public insurance fund. He also wrote and published a significant paper on mechanics.

Posthumous reputation

After Leibniz died, people began to forget his contributions. His only well-known work was Théodicée, which Voltaire mocked in his book Candide. In Candide, the character says "non liquet," a phrase from ancient Rome that meant "not proven." Voltaire’s portrayal of Leibniz’s ideas became widely accepted, even though it was not accurate. This made it harder for people to understand Leibniz’s true work. Leibniz had a student named Christian Wolff, whose ideas hurt Leibniz’s reputation. Leibniz also influenced David Hume, who read Théodicée and used some of its ideas. At the time, people were moving away from the complex systems of thought that Leibniz supported. His work on law, diplomacy, and history was not seen as important. His many letters and writings were also ignored.

Leibniz’s reputation improved when Nouveaux Essais was published in 1765. In 1768, Louis Dutens edited the first complete collection of Leibniz’s works. Later, in the 19th century, other scholars like Erdmann, Gerhardt, and Mollat published more of his writings. These efforts helped people rediscover Leibniz’s ideas. In 1900, Bertrand Russell wrote about Leibniz’s philosophy, and Louis Couturat published a major study of his work. These scholars helped Leibniz gain respect among philosophers in the 20th century. Leibniz’s ideas also influenced thinkers like Willard Quine and Gilles Deleuze. However, serious studies about Leibniz did not grow much until after World War II. In the United States, Leroy Loemker’s translations and essays helped increase interest in Leibniz’s philosophy.

Today, Leibniz is widely respected. His ideas about identity, individuation, and possible worlds are still studied in modern philosophy. Research into the 17th and 18th centuries has shown that the "Intellectual Revolution" of that time was important before the Industrial Revolution. In Germany, many institutions are named after Leibniz, including:

• Leibniz University Hannover
• Leibniz-Akademie, which trains people in business
• Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Bibliothek, one of Germany’s largest libraries
• Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz-Gesellschaft, which promotes Leibniz’s teachings
• Leibniz Association and Leibniz Scientific Society in Berlin
• Leibniz Kolleg at Tübingen University, which helps students prepare for college
• Leibniz Supercomputing Centre in Munich
• Over 20 schools named after him

Other honors include the Leibniz-Ring-Hannover, a prize given to important people, and the Leibniz-Medaille, awarded by academic societies. In 1985, the German government created the Leibniz Prize, which gives up to €2.5 million annually to scientists. In 2007, Leibniz’s manuscripts were added to UNESCO’s list of important historical documents.

Leibniz is still remembered in popular culture. A Google Doodle celebrated his 372nd birthday in 2018, showing him writing "Google" in binary code. Voltaire’s Candide introduced Leibniz to many people, though it portrayed him unfairly. Leibniz also appears in novels like Neal Stephenson’s The Baroque Cycle and Adam Ehrlich Sachs’s The Organs of Sense. A German biscuit called Choco Leibniz, made in Hanover, is named after him.

Writings and publication

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz wrote in three languages: scholastic Latin, French, and German. During his life, he published many pamphlets and scholarly articles, but only two books on philosophy: De Arte Combinatoria and Théodicée. He also wrote many pamphlets, often anonymously, for the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg. One of these, De jure suprematum ("On the Right of Supremacy"), discussed the nature of sovereignty. After Leibniz died, one major book was published: Nouveaux essais sur l'entendement humain ("New Essays on Human Understanding"). Leibniz had not allowed this book to be published after the death of John Locke.

In 1895, a scholar named Bodemann completed a list of all of Leibniz’s manuscripts and letters. This showed the large number of writings Leibniz left behind, called his Nachlass ("literary estate"). This included about 15,000 letters to more than 1,000 people and over 40,000 other items. Many of these letters were as long as essays. Much of Leibniz’s correspondence, especially letters written after 1700, has not been published. Most of what has been published appeared only in recent decades. The working list of the Leibniz-Edition includes records of almost all of Leibniz’s known writings and letters. The large number, variety, and disorder of his writings are a result of a situation he described in a letter.

The published parts of the Leibniz-Edition are organized into the following series:

• Series 1: Political, Historical, and General Correspondence (25 volumes, 1666–1706).
• Series 2: Philosophical Correspondence (3 volumes, 1663–1700).
• Series 3: Mathematical, Scientific, and Technical Correspondence (8 volumes, 1672–1698).
• Series 4: Political Writings (9 volumes, 1667–1702).
• Series 5: Historical and Linguistic Writings (in preparation).
• Series 6: Philosophical Writings (7 volumes, 1663–1690, and Nouveaux essais sur l'entendement humain).
• Series 7: Mathematical Writings (6 volumes, 1672–1676).
• Series 8: Scientific, Medical, and Technical Writings (1 volume, 1668–1676).

The careful sorting of all of Leibniz’s Nachlass began in 1901. This work was slowed by World War I and World War II, and later by the division of Germany into East and West Germany. Scholars were separated, and parts of Leibniz’s writings were scattered. The project has dealt with writings in seven languages, found in about 200,000 pages. In 1985, the project was reorganized and joined by German federal and state academies. Since then, branches in Potsdam, Münster, Hanover, and Berlin have published 57 volumes of the Leibniz-Edition, each about 870 pages long, and created indexes and guides.

The year listed is usually the year the work was completed, not the year it was published.

• 1666 (published 1690): De Arte Combinatoria ("On the Art of Combination"); partially translated in Loemker (1969) and Parkinson (1966).
• 1667: Nova Methodus Discendae Docendaeque Iurisprudentiae ("A New Method for Learning and Teaching Jurisprudence").
• 1667: "Dialogus de connexione inter res et verba" ("A Dialogue About the Connection Between Things and Words").
• 1671: Hypothesis Physica Nova ("New Physical Hypothesis").
• 1673: Confessio philosophi ("A Philosopher’s Creed").
• October 1684: "Meditationes de cognitione, veritate et ideis" ("Meditations on Knowledge, Truth, and Ideas").
• November 1684: "Nova methodus pro maximis et minimis" ("New Method for Maximums and Minimums").
• 1686: Discours de métaphysique.
• 1686: Generales inquisitiones de analysi notionum et veritatum ("General Inquiries About the Analysis of Concepts and of Truths").
• 1694: "De primae philosophiae Emendatione, et de Notione Substantiae" ("On the Correction of First Philosophy and the Notion of Substance").
• 1695: Système nouveau de la nature et de la communication des substances ("New System of Nature").
• 1700: Accessiones historicae.
• 1703: "Explication de l'Arithmétique Binaire" ("Explanation of Binary Arithmetic").
• 1704 (published 1765): Nouveaux essais sur l'entendement humain.
• 1707–1710: Scriptores rerum Brunsvicensium (3 volumes).
• 1710: Théodicée.
• 1714: "Principes de la nature et de la Grâce fondés en raison".
• 1714: Monadologie.

• 1717: Collectanea Etymologica, edited by Johann Georg von Eckhart, Leibniz’s secretary.
• 1749: Protogaea.
• 1750: Origines Guelficae.

Six important collections of English translations include Wiener (1951), Parkinson (1966), Loemker (1969),