A book, History of the Internet by Moschovitis, Poole, Schuyler, and Sengt was just weeded from our library's non-fiction collection. The book was published in 1999, which is why it had been removed. Never the less, I brought it home thinking that I might find a topic to blog about.
Tim Berners-Lee's creation of the World Wide Web has interested me since our first days of class so he will be the topic of this entry. Berners-Lee was born in London to parents who were both working on an early computer, the Ferranti Mark I. He studied physics at Queen's College, Oxford University, graduating in 1976. In 1984, he began work at CERN. Five years later, he submitted a proposal for the development of a hypertext data system. His subsequent work yielded what we now know as the World Wide Web. Berners-Lee does not view himself as the inventor of the WWW. "He says he provided only the blueprint, whereas the communities of Internet users assembled the pieces and made the WWW grow with breathtaking speed." This comment sounds like something out of Time magazine's "Person of the Year: You" articles which illustrate how the contributions of many have swiftly lead to refinements on the internet and the web.
Berners-Lee left CERN in 1994 to direct the newly created W3 Consortium at MIT in the United States. "The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential. W3C is a forum for information, commerce, communication, and collective understanding." There he continues to coordinate the development of Web tools and standards. A MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant" was awarded to Berners-Lee in 1998. Berners-Lee is still acting director of the W3 Consortium and has spoken to the Congressional Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet regarding the future of the Web as recently as this past Thursday, March 1st.
His brilliance in the creation of the World Wide Web is enhanced by what has been termed his humble nature. When he completed his WWW software, he was approached by companies to commercialize it. He decided against copyrighting this product thus losing out on the financial return he might have received from it. "Berners-Lee remains committed to preventing any single corporation from dominating the Web." Through his work with the W3 Consortium, he continues to promote and protect an easily accessible, public web.
Berners-Lee is yet another unsung hero of our times. We are fortunate to have him battling for public accessibility on the front lines in Washington and internationally.
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