- PowerScore Staff
- Posts: 868
- Joined: Oct 19, 2022
- Mon Mar 31, 2025 12:30 pm
#112467
Hi zebrowski,
You'll want to be careful not to define a given word too narrowly. In this case, the word "discover" has several related definitions. While "discovery" often means learning something for the first time, it need not mean the first time in history. It can also mean the first time for that individual.
For example, the sentence, "She discovered that her husband was having an affair" does not mean that she was the first person ever to learn this fact. Obviously, her husband at the very least knew about the affair before she did.
Here, the conclusion that "Leibniz and Newton each independently discovered calculus" (my emphasis) simply means that each discovered calculus on his own without help from anyone else. It entirely possible that someone may have discovered it earlier that neither Leibniz, nor Newton, nor anyone else had any knowledge of in recorded history.
You'll want to be careful not to define a given word too narrowly. In this case, the word "discover" has several related definitions. While "discovery" often means learning something for the first time, it need not mean the first time in history. It can also mean the first time for that individual.
For example, the sentence, "She discovered that her husband was having an affair" does not mean that she was the first person ever to learn this fact. Obviously, her husband at the very least knew about the affair before she did.
Here, the conclusion that "Leibniz and Newton each independently discovered calculus" (my emphasis) simply means that each discovered calculus on his own without help from anyone else. It entirely possible that someone may have discovered it earlier that neither Leibniz, nor Newton, nor anyone else had any knowledge of in recorded history.