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The cover of The Innovators

The Innovators

Walter Isaacson, 2014

See how collaborative teams, not lone geniuses, built the computer and the Internet, from Ada Lovelace's first vision of programming to Google's founding.

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13 parts, about 28 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Argues most digital age innovation was collaborative, tracing the computer, transistor, microchip and internet through the many people who built them
  • Restores the women programmers, such as the ENIAC team, who were left out of the story when the machine was unveiled
  • Shows what makes an innovation succeed: a great idea, engineering skill and business sense, with visionaries paired with operating executives

Who it is for

  • Readers who want the human story behind computers and the internet
  • Founders and team leaders deciding how to build creative teams
  • Readers curious whether machines can think or only assist people

What the summary covers

  1. How This Book Came to Be1 min
  2. Poetical Science: Ada Lovelace's Vision2 min
  3. The Computer: A Convergence, Not a Single Breakthrough2 min
  4. Programming: The Women Who Made the Hardware Think2 min
  5. The Transistor and the Making of Silicon Valley2 min
  6. The Microchip and the Birth of Intel2 min
  7. Video Games and the Trifecta of Invention2 min
  8. The Internet: Institutions Building an Open System3 min
  9. The Personal Computer: From Counterculture to Altair2 min
  10. Software: Gates, Allen, and the Rise of Apple3 min
  11. Online: Modems, Communities, and AOL2 min
  12. The Web: From One Vision to Many Collaborators2 min
  13. Ada Forever: The Book's Argument Made Explicit3 min

Recommended by

  • Sheryl SandbergFormer chief operating officer of Meta Platforms and founder of LeanIn.Org
    Walter Isaacson has written an inspiring book about genius, this time explaining how creativity and success come from collaboration. The Innovators is a fascinating history of the digital revolution, including the critical but often forgotten role women played from the beginning. It offers truly valuable lessons in how to work together to achieve great results.

About the author

  • Walter IsaacsonAmerican journalist and biographer, professor at Tulane University
    • Son of an electrical and mechanical engineer father and a real estate broker mother.
    • Majored in history and literature at Harvard and graduated in 1974.
    • As a Rhodes scholar at Pembroke College, Oxford, he studied philosophy, politics and economics and graduated with first class honours.
    • Joined Time in 1978 and was its editor of new media before becoming editor of the magazine.
    • Published the authorized biography Steve Jobs in October 2011, a few weeks after Jobs died.
    • Led the Aspen Institute from 2003 until 2018, then became a professor of history at Tulane University.
    • Serves on the boards of United Airlines and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

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