About the book
Walter Isaacson's history of the computer and the internet follows the people who created them, beginning with Ada Lovelace, the daughter of Lord Byron and a pioneer of computer programming in the 1840s. Written after his biography of Steve Jobs, it moves through figures including Alan Turing, Vannevar Bush, J.C.R. Licklider, John von Neumann, Robert Noyce, Doug Engelbart, Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates, Tim Berners-Lee, Larry Page and Jobs himself. Isaacson looks at what talents let certain inventors and entrepreneurs turn ideas into realities and why some succeeded where others failed. The narrative also shows how their ability to collaborate and work as teams made them more creative, as part of a larger account of how innovation happens.
EyeFitU founder Isabelle Ohnemus called it a well-documented history of the digital revolution worth reading more than once, and SquarePlanet founder Brian Burkhart took from it that technology grows from one long, connected chain of people. rmotr.com co-founder Santiago Basulto said it had a deep impact on him.
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This book has 4 recommendations
Isabelle Ohnemus (Founder/EyeFitU)
This book, to be read and re-read, is a historical and extremely well documented history of the digital revolution, carrying insightful surprises along the way.
Chris Oliver (Founder/GoRails)
I'm currently reading Innovators by Walter Isaacson. I love reading books like this because you learn about the lives of people who have created amazing things. It teaches you that their lives were often much harder than you realize and the struggles you're going through are very similar to what they had to go through before they were successful. It's really inspirational.
Santiago Basulto (Co-Founder/rmotr.com)
The Innovators (Walter Isaacson) was another book with profound impact. Learning how the tech world was shaped by these group of hackers and revolutionaries.
Brian Burkhart (Founder & Chief Word Guy/SquarePlanet Presentations & Strategy)
This book is essentially a biography of all the people who’ve led to the technology of today—it’s fascinating. The most important point of the book is everything is one long, connected chain. There isn’t just one person or one industry that makes anything happen—it all goes way back. For example, the communication theory I have espoused and taught throughout my career is from Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato. Yeah, I’ve got my own spin on it—instead of ethos, pathos and logos, we say “know, feel, and do.” But it’s still based on their philosophies. Reading this book, I realized it’s not just someone like Steve Jobs who’s responsible for the era we live in. Rather, it’s Steve Jobs plus a whole lot of people from the last 200-plus years.
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Isabelle Ohnemus, Chris Oliver, Santiago Basulto, Brian Burkhart
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Often recommended alongside
- Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (2 shared recommenders)
Appears in collections
- Best Biography Books: 200 Books List
- Best Books on Communication
- Best Programming Books – For Startup Founders and Entrepreneurs
- Best Books on Creativity: Free Your Mind
- Best Inspirational Books: For When You Need to Get Inspired
Sources
- 30 must-read books on business, technology and productivity, as picked by entrepreneurs
- Chris Oliver, Founder of GoRails, Gives Enthusiastic Insight on The Books that Helped Him Grow
- Santiago Basulto, Co-Founder of rmotr.com, Provides a Reading List for Founders, Coders & Stoics
- Book-Talk with Brian Burkhart


