Computer science development of sophisticated computing equipment. Wilhelm Schickard designed and constructed the first working mechanical calculator in 1623. In 1673, Gottfried Leibniz demonstrated a digital mechanical calculator, called the Stepped Reckoner. He may be considered the first computer scientist and information theorist, for, among other reasons, documenting the binary number system. In 1820, Thomas de Colmar launched the mechanical calculator industry when he released his simplified arithmometer, which was the first calculating machine strong enough and reliable enough to be used daily in an office environment. Charles Babbage started the design of the first "automatic mechanical calculator", his Difference Engine, in
Open Inventor visualization systems around the world, having proven itself well designed for effective development of complex 3D application software. In 2004, TGS was acquired by Mercury Computer Systems, and in June 2009, the entity became an independent company again called Visualization Sciences Group (VSG). In 2012, VSG was acquired by FEI Company. In 2016, FEI Company was acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific (Materials & Structural Analysis Division), which continues to develop and support Open Inventor. Open Inventor Open Inventor, originally IRIS Inventor, is a C++ object oriented retained mode 3D graphics toolkit designed by SGI to provide a higher layer of