Editing Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (section)

====The ''vis viva''====
Leibniz's ''[[vis viva]]'' (Latin for "living force") is {{math|{{var|m}}{{var|v}}{{sup|2}}}}, twice the modern [[kinetic energy]]. He realized that the total energy would be conserved in certain mechanical systems, so he considered it an innate motive characteristic of matter.<ref>See Ariew and Garber 155–86, Loemker §§53–55, W II.6–7a</ref> Here too his thinking gave rise to another regrettable nationalistic dispute. His ''vis viva'' was seen as rivaling the [[conservation of momentum]] championed by Newton in England and by [[Descartes]] and Voltaire in France; hence [[academic]]s in those countries tended to neglect Leibniz's idea. Leibniz knew of the validity of conservation of momentum. In reality, both energy and [[momentum]] are conserved (in [[closed systems]]), so both approaches are valid.