Tim Berners-Lee and the World Wide Web

Tim Berners-Lee and the World Wide Web

• Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, a multimedia platform accessible via the internet, in 1991.
• He made the web freely available to the world.
• In 1980, he created ENQUIRE, a program connecting CERN academics and enabling early information sharing.
• He proposed the World Wide Web in 1989, including the concepts of HTML (hypertext markup language) and HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol).
• HTML allows computers to display webpages, and HTTP facilitates communication between browsers and web servers.
• The web's initial release included detailed instructions for programmers to create their websites on April 30, 1991.
• Berners-Lee received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in 2004 for his contribution to internet development.
• The web is used for communication, business, and shopping globally.
• Berners-Lee advocated for a fair and open web, despite the increase in political and commercial interests.
• The Web has more than 4 billion users today.
• He chose not to receive royalties from his creation.

Other Scientists and Their Contributions

• J.C.R. Licklider: Early advocate for computer power.
  • He commissioned Arpanet (predecessor to the internet) in 1963 which connected research computers and defined transfer procedures by 1978.
• Fred Hoyle: Astrophysicist who studied element origin in stars and supported the steady state theory (later discredited).
• Katherine Johnson: Mathematician important for calculating trajectories for space missions including the Apollo 11 Moon mission, working for NASA.
• Irene Uchida: Medical geneticist who studied genetic conditions and chromosome differences.
• Yvonne Brill: Inventor of a propulsion system for spacecraft. worked on weather satellite thrusters, rocket designs, and the Mars observer.
• Abdus Salam: Developed the electroweak theory (explained weak interaction and unification with electromagnetic force). He received the Nobel Prize in 1979
• Vera Rubin: Astronomer who discovered that stars in outer galaxies move as fast as those near the center. Her work indicated the existence of dark matter.
• Peter Higgs: Developed a theory on the origin of elementary particle mass. His prediction of the Higgs boson was later confirmed at CERN, earning him a Nobel Prize in 2013.
• Eric Kandel: Studied the cellular basis of behavior. Shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for research on synapses in memory and learning, utilizing sea slugs
• Mario Molina: Chemical engineer who, with Sherwood Rowland, demonstrated CFC damage to the ozone layer, contributing to a ban on CFCs . He received the Nobel prize.
• Lap-Chee Tsui: Medical geneticist who identified a faulty gene responsible for cystic fibrosis.
• Mae Carol Jemison: First African American woman in space, worked as a space shuttle science mission specialist.
• Donna Strickland: Optical physicist who developed the chirped pulse amplification (CPA) technique and received a Nobel Prize in 2018 for this.
• Carol Greider: Molecular biologist, researched telomeres and telomerase. Shared a Nobel Prize for her contribution in this field