Walter Isaacson is the bestselling author of biographies of Jennifer Doudna, Leonardo da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, and Albert Einstein. He is a professor of history at Tulane and was CEO of the Aspen Institute, chair of CNN, and editor of Time. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2023. Visit him at Isaacson.Tulane.edu.
"[A] tour d'horizon of the computer age . . . [The Innovators]
presents a deeply comforting, humanistic vision: of how a
succession of brilliant individuals, often working together in
mutually supportive groups, built on each others' ideas to create a
pervasive digital culture in which man and machine live together in
amicable symbiosis. . . . a fresh perspective on the birth of the
information age."-- "Financial Times"
BEST OF 2014 NEW YORK TIMES; WASHINGTON POST; FINANCIAL TIMES;
HOUSTON CHRONICLE; KIRKUS; AMAZON; NPR; BLOOMBERG.COM-; WALL
STREETJOURNAL; FORBES; SACRAMENTO BEE;-- "BEST OF 2014"
"[a] landmark new work . . . In this often surprising history,
Isaacson offers an encyclopedic account of the technological
breakthroughs that made modern computers and networks possible:
programming, transistors, chips, software, graphics, desktop
computers, and the Internet."-- "Boston Globe"
"...a project whose gestation preceded Steve Jobs and whose vision
exceeds it."-- "New York Magazine"
"The Innovators . . . does far more than analyze the hardware and
software that gave birth to digital revolution - it fully explores
the women and men who created the ideas that birthed the gadgets. .
. . Isaacson tells stories of vanity and idealism, of greed and
sacrifice, and of the kind of profound complexity that lies behind
the development of seemingly simple technological improvements. . .
. Isaacson is skilled at untangling the tangled strands of memory
and documentation and then reweaving them into a coherent tapestry
that illustrates how something as complicated and important as the
microchip emerged from a series of innovations piggybacking off of
one another for decades (centuries, ultimately.) . . . It's a
portrait both of a technology, and the culture that nurtured it.
That makes it a remarkable book, and an example for other would-be
gadget chroniclers to keep readily at hand before getting lost in a
labyrinth of ones and zeros - at the expense of the human beings
who built the maze in the first place."-- "Christian Science
Monitor"
"The Innovators . . . is riveting, propulsive and at times deeply
moving. . . . One of Isaacson's jealousy-provoking gifts is his
ability to translate complicated science into English--those who
have read his biographies of Einstein and Steve Jobs understand
that Isaacson is a kind of walking Rosetta Stone of physics and
computer programming. . . . The Innovators is one of the most
organically optimistic books I think I've ever read. It is a
stirring reminder of what Americans are capable of doing when they
think big, risk failure, and work together."
--Jeffrey Goldberg "The Atlantic"
"a significant addition to [Isaacson's] list of best-selling
nonfiction works with The Innovators. . . . Isaacson thoroughly
examines the lives of such landmark personalities as Alan Turing,
John von Neumann, J.C.R. Licklider, Robert Noyce, Bill Gates, Steve
Wozniak, Tim Berners-Lee, Jobs and others. The most well-read of
technocrats will still learn a lot from these thoroughly researched
542 pages. He shows with repeated examples that an Aha moment often
went nowhere without the necessary collaborators to help flesh out
the idea, or make it producible, or sell it. Collaboration is,
indeed, a major theme of the book. . . . [The Innovators] reads as
easily as the best of them. Isaacson truly has earned his spot on
the best-seller lists."-- "Charleston Post and Courier"
"A sprawling companion to his best-selling Steve Jobs . . . this
kaleidoscopic narrative serves to explain the stepwise development
of 10 core innovations of the digital age -- from mathematical
logic to transistors, video games and the Web -- as well as to
illustrate the exemplary traits of their makers. . . . Isaacson
unequivocally demonstrates the power of collaborative labor and the
interplay between companies and their broader ecosystems. . . . The
Innovators is the most accessible and comprehensive history of its
kind.-- "The Washington Post"
"Fueled by entertaining anecdotes, quirky characters and a strong
argument for creative collaboration, The Innovators is a
fascinating history of all things digital, even for readers who
align themselves more with Lord Byron than with his math-savvy
daughter."-- "Richmond Times-Dispatch"
"If anyone could compress all that into a readable narrative, it
would be Isaacson, the former managing editor of Time and author of
magnificent biographies of Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs....The
Innovators shows Isaacson at his best in segments where his talents
as a biographer have room to run."-- "Dallas Morning News"
"If you think you know everything about computers, read The
Innovators. Surprises await on every page."-- "Houston
Chronicle"
"In The Innovators, Isaacson succeeds infilling our knowledge gap
by crafting a richly detailed history that traces the evolution of
these modern tools and pays homage to the people whose names and
contributions to computer science are little-known to most of us. .
. . The Innovators is as much about the essence of creativity and
genius as it is about cathode tubes, binary programs, circuit
boards, microchips and everything in between."-- "SUCCESS"
"Isaacson succeeds in telling an accessible tale tailored to a
general interest audience. He avoids the overhyped quicksand that
swallows many technology writers as they miscast tiny incremental
advances as 'revolutionary.' Instead Isaacson focuses on the
evolutionary nature of progress. The Innovators succeeds in large
part because Isaacson repeatedly shows how these visionaries,
through design or dumb luck, were able to build and improve on the
accomplishments of previous generations."-- "Miami Herald"
"Mr. Isaacson's fine new book, The Innovators, is a serial
biography of the large number of ingenious scientists and engineers
who, you might say, led up to Jobs and his Apple co-founder Steve
Wozniak."--Steven Shapin "Wall Street Journal"
"The argument against the great man theory of invention is not new.
But the main merit of Walter Isaacson's The Innovators is to show
that this is particularly true in information technology--despite
the customary lionisation of many of its pioneers, from Babbage and
Alan Turing to Bill Gates and Linus Torvalds. . . . Mr Isaacson
excels at explaining complex concepts."-- "The Economist"
"Walter Isaacson is the best possible guide to this storm. He
interrupted work on [The Innovators] book to write the standard
biography of Steve Jobs, having previously written lives of
Einstein, Benjamin Franklin and Kissinger. His approach involves
massive research combined with straight, unadorned prose and a
matter-of-fact storytelling style. . . . the directness of his
approach makes for clarity and pace."--Bryan Appleyard "The Sunday
Times"
"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."--Sheryl Sandberg
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