who invented binary numbers

Binary numbers were formally invented and systematized by the German mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in 1689. He published "Explication de l'Arithmétique Binaire" which outlined the modern binary number system using 0 and 1 and discussed its usefulness. Leibniz viewed binary numbers as symbolic of the Christian idea of creation out of nothing and sought to use the binary system for pure mathematical logic and reasoning. However, the concept of binary numbers is much older and there were earlier investigators. The English mathematician Thomas Harriot studied binary numeration nearly a century before Leibniz. The Spanish clergyman Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz published about binary systems in 1670, earlier than Leibniz. The binary system also appeared independently in ancient China (notably in the I Ching), and other cultures had developed binary-like number systems. Despite these precedents, Leibniz is credited with inventing the modern binary number system used in computing today because of his systematic treatment and promotion of it in mathematical terms.