| Summary: | "The Life of Leibnitz, by Dr. Guhrauer (1842), upon the basis of which this work has been written, is the last and best of a large number of biographies of this celebrated mathematician and philosopher. I should have contented myself with simply translating the able and learned production of Dr. Guhrauer, had it not seemed to me, with all its merits, not entirely adapted to the wants of the American literary public. Like most German works of this kind, it is rather a collection of biographical materials, than a well arranged biography. It, also, contains much matter either wholly irrelevant, or possessing an interest only for the countrymen of Leibnitz. I have therefore re-written the Life, for the purpose of divesting it of its German peculiarities, and of presenting it in a more acceptable form to the English reader. In doing this, however, I have almost invariably re-produced the views and opinions, and, for the most part, as it suited my convenience, translated the language of the original author. Whenever it has been in my power to verify any of his results, or to correct any slight accidental error, which came under my notice, I have done so. I have, however, added little, or nothing, to the German work; and have taken away from it nothing that could be appropriately introduced into a popular biography, or that might be considered as possessing any historical interest for readers without the confines of Germany. All the merit of this work, therefore, is strictly due to the author of the German Life, except the credit, if there be any, of having condensed the original materials and presented them in a new form"--Preface. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).
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