Note-taking has been an important part of human history and scientific development. The Ancient Greeks developed hypomnema which were personal records on important subjects. In the Renaissance and early modern period commonplace books which served a similar function became popular.
Philosopher John Locke developed an indexing system which served as a model for commonplace books; for example, it inspired another book, Bell’s Common-Place Book, Formed generally upon the Principles Recommended and Practised by Mr Locke nearly a century later.