Or a certain obscure piece of algebra discovered by one G. Boole.
(Edit: During his time, Boole's results were practically unknown except to other logicians, and certainly nobody expected to find any practical use for them. It wasn't until the 1930s when Claude Shannon realized that the algebra that now carries Boole's name could be used to analyze digital electric cirquits.)
(Edit: During his time, Boole's results were practically unknown except to other logicians, and certainly nobody expected to find any practical use for them. It wasn't until the 1930s when Claude Shannon realized that the algebra that now carries Boole's name could be used to analyze digital electric cirquits.)