en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Characteristica_universalis
1 correction found
by discovering binary digits again from Chinese works, which was now from the I Ching
Leibniz did not discover binary arithmetic from Chinese texts. He had already developed his binary system by 1679 and only later connected it to the I Ching after correspondence with Joachim Bouvet.
Full reasoning
This reverses the historical sequence. Credible histories of Leibniz's mathematics state that he had already introduced or perfected his binary arithmetic in 1679. Only later did he relate his already-existing binary arithmetic to the I Ching.
MacTutor's chronology states: "1679 Leibniz introduces binary arithmetic". Its Leibniz biography likewise says he "perfected his system by 1679". Separately, an academic edition of the Leibniz–Bouvet correspondence shows that Bouvet's letter about the Chinese hexagrams was from 4 November 1701, and Leibniz's 1703 reply discusses "the relation of my binary arithmetic" to the Fu Xi diagram—wording that treats the binary arithmetic as already his own prior work.
So the article's wording is incorrect because it suggests Leibniz's binary digits were (re)discovered from Chinese works, when the better-documented chronology is the opposite: Leibniz developed binary arithmetic first, and later interpreted the I Ching as a striking parallel or confirmation.
3 sources
- Chronology for 1675 - 1700 - MacTutor History of Mathematics
"1679 Leibniz introduces binary arithmetic."
- Gottfried Leibniz (1646 - 1716) - Biography - MacTutor History of Mathematics
"Another of Leibniz's great achievements in mathematics was his development of the binary system of arithmetic. He perfected his system by 1679..."
- Letter I: 4 November 1701, Bouvet to Leibniz – Leibniz-Bouvet Correspondence
Academic edition identifying Bouvet's letter on the Chinese material as dated 4 November 1701, which is later than Leibniz's 1679 work on binary arithmetic.