Frege was the founder of modern logic: as a logician and philosopher of logic he ranks with Aristotle. He was little known in his life time but has had a large influence on analytical philosophy through Russell and on continental philosophy through Husserl. He is thought of as a philosophers" philosopher, but it was his genius that made possible the work of writers who have caught the attention of the general public, such as Wittgenstein and Chomsky; and his invention of mathematical logic was one of the major contributions to the development in many disciplines which resulted in the invention of computers, with all their effects on individuals and society.