Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646 to 1716) was a German mathematician and philosopher, born in Leipzig, who died in Hannover. His best known mathematical work is the notation for differential and integral calculus that is still in use, though he never treated the derivative as a limit. For computing he matters in two ways. He designed and began to build a mechanical calculating machine, which he took to Paris and demonstrated in an unfinished state to the Royal Society in London in 1673, where it drew mixed reactions and was never completed to the standard he promised. He also worked out the binary system of arithmetic by 1679 and published it in 1701 in an essay sent to the Paris Academy. His calculating machine and his two-symbol number system are the two reasons the computing record lists him as a pioneer.