10/24/2014

Meet ‘The Innovators’ Who Made the Digital Revolution

26:32 minutes

UCLA's Sigma 7 computer, shown a few months after Charley Kline sent the first successful information transmission over a computer network on October 29, 1969. Kline is visible smiling in the back. Photo courtesy of Anita Coley
UCLA’s Sigma 7 computer, shown a few months after Charley Kline sent the first successful information transmission over a computer network on October 29, 1969. Kline is visible smiling in the back. Photo courtesy of Anita Coley

Author Walter Isaacson has written the biographies of many of science and tech’s “great men”—from Benjamin Franklin to Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs. But to tell the story of the digital revolution, he had to write about hundreds of collaborators in the industry. His new book, The Innovators, introduces readers to the computer scientists, engineers, hobbyists, and hackers who created everything from the transistor to Wikipedia. Read an excerpt here.

Speaking of innovators, SciFri was one of the first shows to broadcast live over the internet in 1993. Listen to a clip here:

 

Segment Guests

Walter Isaacson

Walter Isaacson is the author of Elon Musk, and a professor of History at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Charley Kline

Charley Kline is a computer scientist and internet developer in Los Altos, California.

Meet the Producer

About Annie Minoff

Annie Minoff is a producer for The Journal from Gimlet Media and the Wall Street Journal, and a former co-host and producer of Undiscovered. She also plays the banjo.

Explore More

How Innovation Happens in the Digital Age

An excerpt from "The Innovators."

Read More