Wilhelm Schickard. Portrait of Wilhelm Schickard (1592-1635), German mathematician and linguist. He was educated in theology, and in 1613 he became Lutheran minister in Tubingen, Germany. Later, in 1619, he became professor of Hebrew at Tubingen University. It was here that he befriended the German astronomer Johannes Kepler. It was Kepler who noticed Schickard's talent for mathematics. Schikard devised a mechanical calculator to help Kepler with his calculations. It could calculate to six decimal places and is considered to be the first known mechanical calculator. Unfortunately it was destroyed by fire before Kepler could use it.