Timeline of Systematic Data and the Development of Computable Knowledge

Timeline of Systematic Data and the Development of Computable Knowledge: 0 BC - 1599


78: Pliny

The world's knowledge, with references

Pliny creates an encyclopedia that claims to summarize all knowledge with references to its sources.

150: Ptolemy

Formulas for the heavens

Ptolemy's Almagest introduces epicycles to describe the detailed motion of planets.

80: Pedanius Dioscorides

Cataloging medicinal substances

Pedanius Dioscorides produces De Materia Medica as a pharmacopeia covering herbal and other medicines.

200: Galen

Classifying the body

Galen organizes anatomy and physiology, defining many terms and concepts used today.

105: Tsai Lun

Recording knowledge in bulk

Tsai Lun invents paper in China.

340: Codices

Making knowledge browseable

Bound, book-like codices replace scrolls.

125: Philo of Byblos

Arranging words

Philo of Byblos compiles a dictionary of synonyms and makes the earliest known thesaurus.


530: Justinian

The Corpus Juris Civilis codifying Roman law is produced.

825: Hindu-Arabic Numerals

Writing numbers using decimal digits

Decimal place-value notation from India appears in Persian mathematician al-Khwarizmi's book on mathematical algorithms.

550: Literary Monasticism

Preserving written knowledge

Cassiodorus founds a monastery devoted to copying, preserving, and translating classic texts, initiating the tradition of literary monasticism.

960: Song Dynasty Banknotes

The Song Dynasty introduces the use of paper money in China.


1030: Guido d'Arezzo

A notation for music

Guido d'Arezzo invents musical stave notation.

1202: Leonardo Fibonacci

Fibonacci's Liber Abaci introduces Hindu-Arabic numerals in Europe.

1086: Domesday Book

William the Conqueror orders a detailed accounting of the land and livestock in England.

1230: Hugh of St Cher

Indexing textual knowledge

Hugh of St Cher and a team of 500 other monks create a concordance of The Bible.


1300: Ramon Llull

Creating knowledge by combinations

Ramon Llull promotes a scheme for systematically creating knowledge from formal combinations of ideas.

1453: Johannes Gutenberg

Mass distribution of knowledge

Moveable type makes it economical to print many kinds of documents.

1350: Nicole Oresme

Making pictures of data

French philosopher Nicole Oresme introduces the notion of drawing graphs of values.

1538: Parish Records

Recording life's events

Parishes in England keep weekly records of all christenings, marriages, and burials.

1403: Yongle

Collecting the knowledge of a civilization

The Yongle Encyclopedia, assembled by 2,000 scholars, fills over 11,000 volumes with the collected knowledge of Chinese civilization.

1582: Gregorian Calendar

Pope Gregory XIII establishes the modern calendar, changing the leap year rule for years divisible by 100.

1450: Vatican Library

The papal archives become the Vatican Library, which is still operating today.

1595: Franciscus Vieta

A notation for symbolic algebra

Franciscus Vieta writes mathematical formulas with letters as variables, using vowels for unknowns and consonants for parameters.

Timeline of Systematic Data and the Development of Computable Knowledge
