The Innovators
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- Create Date：2021-06-24 09:53:01
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Walter Isaacson
- ISBN：1471138801
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Summary
The computer and the internet are among the most important innovations of our era， but few people know who created them。 They were not conjured up in a garret or garage by solo inventors suitable to be singled out on magazine covers or put into a pantheon with Edison， Bell， and Morse。 Instead， most of the innovations of the digital age were done collaboratively。 There were a lot of fascinating people involved， some ingenious and a few even geniuses。 This is the story of these pioneers， hackers， inventors， and entrepreneurs—who they were， how their minds worked， and what made them so creative。 It’s also a narrative of how they collaborated and why their ability to work as teams made them even more creative。”
Reviews
Mykola Vasylchyshyn
，
For me it is a first book about the subject of technical innovation。 Quite an interesting reading。 It's not about the tech itself。It is more about the people around technology。 Their characters， theirs relationships with each other。 About big companies which try to mix different talented ones to make the invention possible。 Good book。 Probably give it a second read。 :） For me it is a first book about the subject of technical innovation。 Quite an interesting reading。 It's not about the tech itself。It is more about the people around technology。 Their characters， theirs relationships with each other。 About big companies which try to mix different talented ones to make the invention possible。 Good book。 Probably give it a second read。 :） 。。。more
Alexander Dennison
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Took 100 pages for me to clear early 19th century figures such as the background of Ada Lovelace （and other related figures whose names I had not heard of） ，however， this turned into being a magical account on creativity。Innovators outlines the birth of the computer/connected web network and shows how each generation builds on one another。 How innovation is a shared bi-product of numerous individual’s work。There is unbounded room to view the future with optimism and creativity。 To further the in Took 100 pages for me to clear early 19th century figures such as the background of Ada Lovelace （and other related figures whose names I had not heard of） ，however， this turned into being a magical account on creativity。Innovators outlines the birth of the computer/connected web network and shows how each generation builds on one another。 How innovation is a shared bi-product of numerous individual’s work。There is unbounded room to view the future with optimism and creativity。 To further the interwar toon of art， humanity， and technology。 。。。more
Florence Laureira
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Another great read from IsaacsonWalter’s best book in my estimation was “Albert Einstein”。 It combined enough of the genius mind of the scientist and the humanity of his life story。 Something Ada would appreciate！
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，
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Kit
，
Judging from the front cover of the book， my initial expectation was that it will be a deep dive of the lives of renowned innovators from recent years。 I'm embarrassed to say that I had no idea who Ada Lovelace was nor did I see her image at the top of the cover。 The Innovators really is about the history of computing， at least in America and a bit in England， where most of the progress arguably took place。 It is not a deep dive of the innovators themselves even though their lives are briefly di Judging from the front cover of the book， my initial expectation was that it will be a deep dive of the lives of renowned innovators from recent years。 I'm embarrassed to say that I had no idea who Ada Lovelace was nor did I see her image at the top of the cover。 The Innovators really is about the history of computing， at least in America and a bit in England， where most of the progress arguably took place。 It is not a deep dive of the innovators themselves even though their lives are briefly discussed， but it is more of an overview of innovations which provide the groundwork for the next， until we get to where we are today。When you think about it， we "know" who invented the lightbulb to the point that it becomes a cliché。 But when we ask ourselves who invented the personal computer， what are the first names that come into mind？ Bill Gates？ Steve Jobs？ Wozniak？ None of these are really accurate even though each of these names laid their fingerprints in this invention。 So who gets all the credit？ How about all those other guys who came before who worked around the clock to get transistors into the market？It's not all that straightforward and this is the point of The Innovators。 Modern innovation is driven by collaboration， by yes， sometimes mad geniuses with eccentric ideas， but also by ambitious and disciplined engineers， and also the environment where these ideas can be nurtured and delivered into something tangible。 There are many names in this book and it is hard to keep up， but they are names worth remembering。Idea begets ideas， and new innovations provide the platform for the next improvements。 The transistor begets semiconductors， which begets microchips， which begets the personal computer， which begets Windows。 But it all started very early on， from Charles Babbage's Differential Engine， and Ada Lovelace's borderline obsessive passion for mathematics and art back in the 19th century。 She was the first person who managed to program a code into a machine to return an output - the Bernoulli sequence， back when so called computers were highly mechanical。 She was also the first to believe （at least in recorded history） of the concept of general computing， that the machine can suit more than just the one purpose， which is such a profound idea。 In fact， in some chapters， Isaacson brought to light the essential role women played in the history of computing。That is another important idea in The Innovators - that technological progress and art go hand in hand。 Lovelace was Lord Byron's daughter， and she had a passion for the arts and music。 The personal computer and video game revolution could not have come about without lovers of sci-fi， and to some extent， hippies who preached antiestablishment。 Many of the innovators in the book managed to port the love of the arts into the science in their work。Isaacson is really a master biographer and this book is his most ambitious to date。 There are many players here， and a lot of the products described in the book treads on the technical。 Engineers may find a deficit of info but it does not disrespect the layman， and it is an easily digestible book。 Isaacson， like in his Steve Jobs biography， pushed in some nuances of the innovators which adds so much。 For example， Turing's obsession with Snow White and how he poisoned himself with a cyanide-laced apple to mimic the death of Snow White; Gates and Allen's feud of how they are supposed to divide their profits; or how the loathsome William Shockley obsessed over to make a better transistor in a hotel room， not wanting to be outshone by his colleagues。It is an essential book to read if you work in the tech industry。 Some of the management concepts in this book is still relevant to this day。 Just look at how the triad of Noyce， Moore and Grove brought a balance to Fairchild Semiconductor - one is a brilliant manager， another is a brilliant engineer and another is a brilliant bastard。 The common pattern of innovators is that they are product people， a discipline breaking through its embryonic stages today， but nonetheless， a concept that has always existed。 The Innovators is a highly relevant book in the world where we take personal computing for granted。 。。。more
Sujan Adhikari
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An inspiring read for all of us。 It was interesting to learn how various irresistible forces from different avenues shaped our society。 A key takeaway from the book as the name suggests: Innovation is key for any society to flourish。
Matthew
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Good high-level introduction to the history of computing。 Isaacson does a good job of distilling the essence of some complex technical topics and explains at a layman's level why they were important。 Good high-level introduction to the history of computing。 Isaacson does a good job of distilling the essence of some complex technical topics and explains at a layman's level why they were important。 。。。more
Cody
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Semi in-depth crash course in tech/computer/internet history。 Isaacson hits on numerous contributors who were there along the road to today’s tech world as we know it。 Of course he covers the obvious ones - Gates， Jobs， Hewlitt， Gore （jk， but not really） - but also the nitty gritty of all the names you likely have never heard of with all their small steps along the way， The main story really boils down to the fact the it’s not one or two people making these big changes （although， there are a few Semi in-depth crash course in tech/computer/internet history。 Isaacson hits on numerous contributors who were there along the road to today’s tech world as we know it。 Of course he covers the obvious ones - Gates， Jobs， Hewlitt， Gore （jk， but not really） - but also the nitty gritty of all the names you likely have never heard of with all their small steps along the way， The main story really boils down to the fact the it’s not one or two people making these big changes （although， there are a few）， but rather many small contributions from the entire community which lead us to the slow but steady progress。 Overall， still not my favorite WI book， but was pretty hard to but down。 。。。more
Jim
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As far as I got， I liked this book quite a bit。 Non-fiction is much slower reading for me and I simply ran out of time on my library loan to get through it。 May well try again another time。
Steve Abreu
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Great book， appreciated the emphasis on collaboration and the bridge between science/technology and the arts （+10 for mentioning neuromorphic computing in the last chapter）
Nik
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great， amazing， and super insightful。 Can always trust Isaacson to bring his best effort to a topic and dissect it with surgical precision。
Jimmy Tarlau
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A quite entertaining and informative history of computers， microchips， personal computers， the web and a lot more。 It started out a little dry but became more and more interesting as we got into the 60s and later。 It's interesting how collaborative the whole process of innovation and technology was （I guess that's the point of the book） and how business oriented people like Gates and Jobs were from the beginning。 I thoroughly enjoyed it。 A quite entertaining and informative history of computers， microchips， personal computers， the web and a lot more。 It started out a little dry but became more and more interesting as we got into the 60s and later。 It's interesting how collaborative the whole process of innovation and technology was （I guess that's the point of the book） and how business oriented people like Gates and Jobs were from the beginning。 I thoroughly enjoyed it。 。。。more
Petr
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Perfektní vyčerpávající přehled o historie počítačů。
Angshuman Bose
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A Must Read ！ If you want to know about how the computer age started， what were the circumstances， the forces and collaborations that led to the development of this age， then this is the book。
Brian Thorson
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While this book can get pretty far into the details， I enjoyed extrapolating the themes common to the teams that have provided the world with some of the most paradigm-changing innovations and inventions。
David
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The first programming language I learned in college after FORTRAN was Ada。 It was very structured and very beautiful。 This is a multifaceted book: each chapter touches upon repeated themes of the individual innovator versus the team/ crowd share approach; open source versus patents & profits; the people， institutions， and government involvement - or non-involvement; the ideas versus the realizations or implementation of those ideas into something useful or at least usable。 Most of us have been o The first programming language I learned in college after FORTRAN was Ada。 It was very structured and very beautiful。 This is a multifaceted book: each chapter touches upon repeated themes of the individual innovator versus the team/ crowd share approach; open source versus patents & profits; the people， institutions， and government involvement - or non-involvement; the ideas versus the realizations or implementation of those ideas into something useful or at least usable。 Most of us have been on teams - or even had the privilege to lead or coach teams - and are familiar with their dynamics。 We see them in action here: successful teams can have a nova intellect on their team （I led many in my career， but was usually merely a gluon type） and they are either the driving force or， in some cases an intellect to be tolerated and managed。 We see theses disparate types throughout the book， notably in Shockley and Jobs。 Both had their quirks， but people wanted to be on team Jobs。 One of Shockley’s biggest contributions， if not the biggest in my opinion， was driving people away from his company and seeding Silicon Valley。 Even if you never had to use decks of cards to make a symbol appear on a monitor， or had to edit PROMS to make changes to your computer （“I can do that change in 3 chips。。。”）， you will relate to the thrill of each chapter of Isaacson’s book as he brings you closer and closer to where you the reader are today in your computer literacy and usage。 。。。more
Dayla
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Let me start by thanking Monsieur Isaacson for his inclusion of two robust biographies of important women: Ada Lovelace and Grace Hopper （detail in bio "Grace swore like a truck driver。"） That sounds like an episodic cable program to me。 Let me start by thanking Monsieur Isaacson for his inclusion of two robust biographies of important women: Ada Lovelace and Grace Hopper （detail in bio "Grace swore like a truck driver。"） That sounds like an episodic cable program to me。 。。。more
Ahmad Badghaish
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It’s the great story of modern age， how digitalization has started and still running。 The most important takeout was how innovations require a team and small improvements to previous innovations。 Really inspiring。
Paweł Cisło
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The various stories portrayed in this book teach us how important creativity， teamwork and product thinking are in designing an innovative result。 I truly enjoyed each of the story， though not all of them on the same level， since some were already known to me， and some were just not described in a fascinating way。 Nevertheless， the author chose a reasonable sequence of events to present the history of hardware， programming and the internet era。
George
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An interesting book about a good selection of titans of science， technology， entrepreneurship and business。 Read it quite a while ago and an advantage of this book is having brief interesting accounts of such a variety of exponents in a single source。
Scott Dienner
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Extremely interesting read overall。 I enjoyed how it underscored the role of the liberal arts in the evolution of computers and the web。
Neha Bhomia
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"The process of technological development is like building a cathedral。 Over the course of several hundred years new people come along and each lays down a block on top of the old foundations， each saying， ‘I built a cathedral。’Next month another block is placed atop the previous one。 Then comes along an historian who asks， ‘Well， who built the cathedral？’ Peter added some stones here， and Paul added a few more。 If you are not careful， you can con yourself into believing that you did the most im "The process of technological development is like building a cathedral。 Over the course of several hundred years new people come along and each lays down a block on top of the old foundations， each saying， ‘I built a cathedral。’Next month another block is placed atop the previous one。 Then comes along an historian who asks， ‘Well， who built the cathedral？’ Peter added some stones here， and Paul added a few more。 If you are not careful， you can con yourself into believing that you did the most important part。 But the reality is that each contribution has to follow onto previous work。 Everything is tied to everything else。"。。。。And building this cathedral is the whole premise of 'The Innovators'。 The author very beautifully takes us along the journey of technology development picking out the most important blocks in history and describing them to us。 He starts from 1843 when Ada Lovelace publishes notes on Babbage's analytical engine， and then through chapters focusing each on a revolution - computer， programming， transistor， microchip， video games， internet， personal computer， software， online and The web。"The best innovators were those who understood the trajectory of technological change and took the baton from innovators who preceded them。 Steve Jobs built on the work of Alan Kay， who built on Doug Engelbart， who built on J。C。R Licklider and Vannevar Bush。 When Howard Aiken was devising his digital computer at Harvard， he was inspired by the fragment of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine that he found， and he made his crew members read Ada Lovelace's "Notes"。"The author strongly believes that it is not only nerdiness that is harbinger of innovation， but it is the marriage of idea， nerdiness（engineering talent）， and business savvy。 Innovations is not a light bulb moment（rather rarely it is！） but more depends on the collaboration and teamwork。"This innovation will come from people who are able to link beauty to engineering， humanity to technology， and poetry to processors。 In other words， it will come from the spiritual heirs of Ada Lovelace， creators who can flourish where the arts intersect with the sciences， and who have a rebellious sense of wonder that opens them to the beauty of both。"Walter Issacson again creates magic with this book。 。。。more
Mollie
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Wow an amazing study of the development of the geniuses and geeks who developed the technology we do take for granted today。 Technically way above my head but the breakthroughs and developments I enjoyed hearing about。 Transistor radios， wiki， and google， so interesting。
Mahendra Rathod
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We cannot imagine our lives without mobile devices， laptops， TVs， OTT platforms and the ever-present internet。 However， many people contributed immensely to the current information/digital age。This is a sort of history book for the digital age。 It covers the timelines and various people involved in the creation of the modern information/digital age。The book also talks about proprietorship （Intellectual property） on innovations vs open-source movement。 The book covers the following visionaries， s We cannot imagine our lives without mobile devices， laptops， TVs， OTT platforms and the ever-present internet。 However， many people contributed immensely to the current information/digital age。This is a sort of history book for the digital age。 It covers the timelines and various people involved in the creation of the modern information/digital age。The book also talks about proprietorship （Intellectual property） on innovations vs open-source movement。 The book covers the following visionaries， scientists， engineers and business leaders。Book provides interesting stories on how these people helped in innovating the current digital age。 The writing style is simple with a lot of interesting stories。 。。。more
Chris
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Walter Isaacson writes more about the history of computers and the Internet than you wanted or needed to know。 However， the book is well-structured， which is commendable given that the digital revolution grew organically over a period of nearly 200 years and has consisted of both large and small， yet all important in some way， contributions。 His writing is thorough and detailed， vivid， and accessible。If there is an underlying thesis to the book， apart from said history which has now placed human Walter Isaacson writes more about the history of computers and the Internet than you wanted or needed to know。 However， the book is well-structured， which is commendable given that the digital revolution grew organically over a period of nearly 200 years and has consisted of both large and small， yet all important in some way， contributions。 His writing is thorough and detailed， vivid， and accessible。If there is an underlying thesis to the book， apart from said history which has now placed humankind at the start of the Fourth Industrial Revolution， it is innovation comes through the cross pollination of ideas and experiences。 This is a point which was raised in Isaacson’s biography on Steve Jobs and his creation of a work environment where different teams would have unplanned encounters， with the result being increased collaboration and creative output。 And in The Innovators， there are numerous cases in which an invention languished in a basement or forgotten lab because the inventor worked alone and couldn’t overcome some hurdle。 Conversely， there are numerous cases in which an invention leapt forward because of a partner， team， or person who served as an idea hub for others。 In other words， no one person has invented these things， and rather so much is the result of creative collaboration on ideas that already exist。 。。。more
Anil Gajiev
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Walter Isaacson is hands down one of the best nonfiction authors。Special thanks for revealing/mentioning some less known innovators in tech industry。
Travis De Jong
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This is the third book I've read by Isaacson and he just doesn't disappoint。 It was spectacular and a must read for anyone who does anything with technology。 Like all written histories， this book introduced about 20 new names each chapter with most of them going in one ear and out the other （or in one eye and out the other？ idk， whatever floats your goat）， but I was still able to follow and enjoy the storyline。 Also Walter， like the doll he is， left a timeline at the beginning of the book to hel This is the third book I've read by Isaacson and he just doesn't disappoint。 It was spectacular and a must read for anyone who does anything with technology。 Like all written histories， this book introduced about 20 new names each chapter with most of them going in one ear and out the other （or in one eye and out the other？ idk， whatever floats your goat）， but I was still able to follow and enjoy the storyline。 Also Walter， like the doll he is， left a timeline at the beginning of the book to help the ones who got lost in the sauce keep some kind of handle on the names and when this shit was going down。 I also wanted to say that this book hit close to home。 It provided the roots and history of the technology I take for granted and the products I interact with everyday。 It was also encouraging seeing three wildly different entities with different motivations work together to do something great。 Maybe my mom， dad， and stepdad Dale can take notes from the government-academic-industrial collaboration and work together to get me the Hyper 700c Gravel Road Bike for my birthday next week。GREAT WORK WALTER， KEEP IT UP！ 。。。more
Jacob Sedlacek
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I really enjoyed this book。 An engaging look into the genesis of the technological revolution of the last 75 years and the people who contributed。 This is not an in-depth biography， but rather， a well written and well researched overview of the notable personalities and ideas that have shaped the dawn of computers， the internet， and life in the 21st century as we know it。 Well worth the read！
Warwick Chapman
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Best book I have read in a while。 I've often wanted a book that tells the history of computing innovation and this hit the spot and brought the exciting people behind the innovation to life。 Definitely in my top few books ever。 Best book I have read in a while。 I've often wanted a book that tells the history of computing innovation and this hit the spot and brought the exciting people behind the innovation to life。 Definitely in my top few books ever。 。。。more
Abdulfattah Popoola
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Wow！ Excellent book！It started off pretty slowly but I liked how it picked up speed towards the end and I learnt a lot about the evolution of computing as a solution over the past ~80 years。Computing and the Cs: communication， collaboration， communities。 Same applications， different technologies。 E。g。 ham radios， Wikipedia， search engines， social networks， blogs。 I didn't know that the founder of blogger was one of the early founders of Twitter and then Medium。 Humans always want to build commun Wow！ Excellent book！It started off pretty slowly but I liked how it picked up speed towards the end and I learnt a lot about the evolution of computing as a solution over the past ~80 years。Computing and the Cs: communication， collaboration， communities。 Same applications， different technologies。 E。g。 ham radios， Wikipedia， search engines， social networks， blogs。 I didn't know that the founder of blogger was one of the early founders of Twitter and then Medium。 Humans always want to build communities: tech innovations will continue to find applications in these media。Technology is not enough; it has to be widely useful by a wide range of people。 Innovation is not quantum leaps， rather it is nearly always seeded by serendipitous collaboration by a wide variety of people。AI is probably not going to take over， rather symbiotic relationships between computing and human intelligence is the future。 The AI will enhance human productivity and complement。Strong finish， excellent insights - forced me to think about what the coming decades might look like。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Innovators
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Innovators&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Innovators&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0