Definition:Integrating Factor/Historical Note
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Historical Note on Integrating Factor
The technique of using an integrating factor to solve a differential equation appears to have been invented by Leonhard Paul Euler, in $1734$.
It was also independently invented by both Alexis Fontaine des Bertins and Alexis Claude Clairaut.
Some sources attribute it to Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz.
Sources
- 1952: H.T.H. Piaggio: An Elementary Treatise on Differential Equations and their Applications (revised ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Historical Introduction
- 1972: George F. Simmons: Differential Equations ... (previous) ... (next): $\S 3$: Appendix $\text A$: Euler