The Life and Work of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716)

Leibniz unleashed ideas that helped invent calculus, imagined a universal language of thought, rewired how states keep records, and tried to reconcile God, science, and human freedom. This book follows that restless intelligence across mathematics, metaphysics, theology, diplomacy, and the institutions that make reason public. It's part intellectual biography, part programmatic handbook, and part manifesto for thinking-and organizing-better.

Readable but rigorous, the chapters move from the origins of differential calculus to Leibniz's Monadology, from his theodicy to his postal-route and library reforms, from the bitter Newton controversy to the seeds of modern computation he planted with binary arithmetic. Along the way the book explains Leibniz's enduring puzzles-Why does anything exist? Can calculation settle disputes? How should societies preserve reasons?-and shows how his projects anticipate today's debates in logic, AI, archives, and public reason.

For scholars, technologists, policy makers, and curious readers, this volume offers historical depth, clear exposition of technical ideas, and practical takeaways: how notation shapes thought, how institutions shape knowledge, and why an eighteenth-century polymath still matters in the age of computation. If you want a single guide that blends philosophy, science, and statecraft into a provocative vision for our information age, this is the book.