
Leibniz’s Dream
the old geometric and astronomic tables could be corrected and new
ones constructed by the help of which we could measure all kinds
of curves and figures . . . it will pay to extend as far as possible the
major Pythagorean tables; the table of squares, cubes, and other
powers; and the tables of combinations, variations, and progressions
of all kinds, . . . Also the astronomers surely will not have to continue
to exercise the patience which is required for computation. . . . For
it is unworthy of excellent men to lose hours like slaves in the labor
of calculation which could safely be relegated to anyone else if the
machine were used.
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