Technical Polymaths
It is always interesting to revisit the history of where computing originated. People don’t normally think of the abacus as the first “computer”, yet most research documents begin there. Just because it wasn’t electrical doesn’t mean it should be excluded in the area of computing! The polymath’s of this time include the following names: John Napier (Napier’s Bones), William Oughtred (Slide Rule), and none other than Leonardo da Vinci. An article titled “A Brief History of Mechanical Calculators – The Age of the Polymath”, gives da Vinci credit for the first attempt at designing a calculating machine. He is referred to as “a master of machine artifacts”. Here is the article that will remind you of where computing started, find it at computing history.