Smith Charts were originally developed around 1940 by Phillip Smith as a useful tool for making the equations involved in transmission lines easier to manipulate. See, for instance, the input impedance equation for a load attached to a transmission line of length L and characteristic impedance Z0. With modern computers, the Smith Chart is no longer used to the simplify the calculation of transmission line equatons; however, their value in visualizing the impedance of an antenna or a transmission line has not decreased.