Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz invented calculus independently of Newton, designed a mechanical calculator, and developed the binary number system — the foundation of every digital computer — in 1679, over two centuries before anyone had a use for it. He was a universal genius whose ideas were so far ahead of their time that many were not appreciated until the computer age proved him right.

This episode traces Leibniz from his Leipzig childhood through the calculus priority dispute with Newton, the binary system inspired by Chinese philosophy, and the neglected death of a man whose ideas would eventually power the digital world.

• Leibniz’s prodigious education and his early invention of a mechanical calculating machine
• The calculus dispute with Newton — the bitterest priority fight in the history of science
• The binary number system, its connection to the I Ching, and why it took centuries to matter
• His lonely death in Hanover and the posthumous vindication as the prophet of the digital age