Hall of Fame
The men and women whose invention and innovation helped to shape the modern world
TIM BERNERS-LEE
Born to parents already working in computing, Berners-Lee took to the industry quickly, writing software after graduating university in 1976 before joining CERN as a software engineering consultant in 1980. While there he developed hypertext for containing links between files he was working on. Returning to CERN in 1984 he developed the concept of a global hypertext document system using HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), the building blocks of the web.
Alan Turing
A number of important milestones in computing can be attributed to Alan Turing. While war records had been kept secret for some time, he is now best remembered for his contribution to the Bletchley Park code-breaking efforts during WWII. His mathematical insight helped to design the cipher machines needed to break the German encryption of classified intelligence. Prior to this, Turing had conceived of the Turing machine, a theoretical computer, which he later developed into the Automatic Computing Engine from 1945. The design was deemed too complex to attempt, but lit the way for future innovations.
Charles Babbage
A mathematical visionary, Babbage was self-taught in algebra and influenced by the mathematics being discussed on the continent. Following university he became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1816 and helped found the Astronomical Society in 1820, from which his interest in mechanical calculation began. He invented the Difference Engine for making mathematical tables in 1821 and then the Analytical Engine for more complex mathematical equations, storing up to 1,000 50-digit numbers. Technology of the time couldn’t build a lasting Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine wasn’t completed, but they set the template for computer technology to come.
KONRAD ZUSE
If not for having developed his ideas in Germany during WWII, Zuse might well have been a much more famous name in the world today. He developed the Z3 in 1941, the first functional program-controlled computer. However, it wasn’t widely adopted and was destroyed in a bombing raid in 1943. Zuse founded his own computer business and built the Z4, beaten to market only by the UNIVAC I in 1951 as a commercial computer.
DOUGLAS ENGELBART
Two of the most important innovations for how we use computers today are the graphical user interface (GUI) and mouse used to interact with it, and we have Engelbart, in part, to thank for both. In 1963 he received partial funding for his research into computer inter
