1670 AD |
|
| In the 1670s, a German Baron called Gottfried von Leibniz
(sometimes von Leibnitz) took mechanical calculation a step beyond his predecessors. Leibniz, who entered university at fifteen years of age and received his bachelor's degree at seventeen, once said: "It is unworthy of excellent men to lose hours like slaves in the labor of calculation, which could be safely relegated to anyone else if machines were used." |
|
|
| a | ||
|
Leibniz developed Pascal's ideas and, in 1671, introduced the Step Reckoner, a device which, as well as performing additions and subtractions, could multiply, divide, and evaluate square roots by series of stepped additions. | |
| a | ||
| Leibniz also strongly advocated the use of the binary number system, which is fundamental to the operation of modern computers. | Pascal's and Leibniz's devices were the forebears of today's desk-top computers, and derivations of these machines continued to be produced until their electronic equivalents finally became readily available and affordable in the early 1970s. | |
| a | ||
| See also: | |
Leonardo da Vinci's mechanical calculator John Napier and Napier's Bones |
|
| a | |
|
|
| These notes are abstracted from the book Bebop BYTES Back (An Unconventional Guide to Computers) Copyright Information |
|
