# Did Leibniz sketch a design for a machine capable of solving a system of linear equations?

My question is based on the information on pages 108-109 of the book The Tangled Origins of the Leibnizian Calculus. I know that Leibniz

• invented the stepped drum and used it to build the stepped reckoner — the first mechanical calculator capable of doing all four arithmetical operations.

• sketched a design for a different machine‚ the pinwheel calculator.

• designed a cipher machine.

• developed binary arithmetic (based on $$0$$ and $$1$$) and established its importance for computers, and even described in detail some of the fundamental principles of the modern computer (in his treatise De progressione Dyadica).

With such achievements in hand, it's not an exageration to believe the statement in this book.

Can someone give a reference for Leibniz's supposed machine? Can someone give a reference for a drawing of Leibniz machine (how does it look like?)?

• I mean my conjecture about "a machine capable of solving a system of linear equations". All the other machines i mentioned were at least at the design stage (while the stepped reckoner was also built by him). Jun 3 '16 at 13:52
• I come more and more to be convinced that a design of such complicated machine by leibniz is possible. Many websites state that leibniz designed far more complex machines than his stepped reckoner. Jun 3 '16 at 18:59
• See also FLORIN-STEFAN MORAR, Reinventing machines: the transmission history of the Leibniz calculator (2015). Jun 19 '16 at 17:24
• Mauro ALLEGRANZA, is this article concerned with Leibniz's stepped reckoner or with his machine capable of solving equations (Constructeur Universel d'Equations) ? i ask because i dont need references for articles about the stepped reckoner (i know how the stepped reckoner worked). Jun 20 '16 at 12:53