Timeline of Systematic Data and the Development of Computable Knowledge

How civilization has systematized more and more areas of knowledge, collected the data associated with them and made them amenable to automation and computation
Historical Timeline of Computable Knowledge: 0-1599

0

The world's knowledge, with references

78: Pliny

The world's knowledge, with references

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

Cataloging medicinal substances

80: Pedanius Dioscorides

Cataloging medicinal substances

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

Recording knowledge in bulk

105: Tsai Lun

Recording knowledge in bulk

Tsai Lun invents paper in China.

Arranging words

125: Philo of Byblos

Arranging words

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

Formulas for the heavens

150: Ptolemy

Formulas for the heavens

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

Classifying the body

200: Galen

Classifying the body

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

Making knowledge browseable

340: Codices

Making knowledge browseable

Bound, book-like codices replace scrolls.

500

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530: Justinian

The Corpus Juris Civilis codifying Roman law is produced.

Preserving written knowledge

550: Literary Monasticism

Preserving written knowledge

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

Writing numbers using decimal digits

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.

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960: Song Dynasty Banknotes

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

1000

A notation for music

1030: Guido d'Arezzo

A notation for music

Guido d'Arezzo invents musical stave notation.

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1086: Domesday Book

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

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1098: Lingua Ignota

Hildegard of Bingen's creation of Lingua Ignota may be considered one of the earliest constructed languages, which used an alphabet of 23 letters.

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1202: Leonardo Fibonacci

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

Indexing textual knowledge

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

Creating knowledge by combinations

1300: Ramon Llull

Creating knowledge by combinations

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

Making pictures of data

1350: Nicole Oresme

Making pictures of data

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

Collecting the knowledge of a civilization

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.

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1450: Vatican Library

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

Mass distribution of knowledge

1453: Johannes Gutenberg

Mass distribution of knowledge

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

Recording life's events

1538: Parish Records

Recording life's events

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

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1582: Gregorian Calendar

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

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1595: Symbolic algebra

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