Tim Berners-Lee

The World Wide Web is a worldwide phenomenon. On a daily basis, over 2 million people access the Internet using this system. The world's communication changed forever, and it is all thanks to one man: Tim Berners-Lee. The English scientist, born in 1955, is "The son of two mathematicians who worked on the early Manchester University Mark I computer in the early 1950's" (Cheek). By the 1980s, he was working on a program named Enquire at the European Particle Physics Laboratory. He developed it to encode, link, and address documents. Later, he decided to incorporate it into the Internet to make the World Wide Web, "a global electronic realm of interlinked hypertext documents" (Cheek). He also made the first browser to go along with it, and so the era of the Internet began in 1992 thanks to Tim Berners-Lee. A hero is one who is innovative, and uses this quality to benefit the world in a selfless way. And of course, have an open mind to better help humanity. Tim Berners-Lee is a hero because, born an innovator, is always trying to make things better, and being the selfless and open-minded person he is, created something the world is amazed and helped by on a daily basis.

As the son of two mathematicians who created the Mark I computer, Tim Berners-Lee was born and innovator. He was full of ideas that would make things better, faster, easier, and more importantly, connected. He was a person with visions; ideas for what the future should be like. While at CERN, the European particle physics laboratory, his mind sprouted a new idea. "Suppose all the information stored on computers everywhere was linked, I thought. Suppose I could program my program to create a space in which anything could be linked to anything. All the bits of information in every computer at CERN, and on the planet, would be available to me and to anyone else. There would be a single, global information space" (Cheek). In a way, the Internet already existed, and had so much potential, but no one bothered to make something of it. Berners-Lee saw the future for it. He had a brand new, innovative concept. It had never been done before. This was the spark that made his system of the World Wide Web come to life. After the Web went live and was available to the public, Berners-Lee continued take on big tasks. "At the MIT offices, he works to expand the Web's technological capabilities--for example, real-time audio and video--and set standards for protocol design among 150 member companies, including IBM, Microsoft, and Sun Microsystems" (Tim Berners-Lee. Newsmakers). Berners-Lee had definitely done his part for the world by creating the largest means of communication in the world. It definitely shows since he received countless awards and even a knighthood. But Berners-Lee continued to improve the Web, innovating new capabilities that few thought possible. Berners-Lee's innovative and visionary mind led him to create a new era of global communication over the World Wide Web.

Few people do things just for the good of humanity; money and fame is a big temptation. But Tim Berners-Lee is selfless: a true heroic quality. Many software companies tried to buy his invention, and considered commercializing the Web. "Berners-Lee, however, refused to cash in on his invention. He remained a conscientious scientist and an advocate for using the Web as a way to link the world for the benefit of all" (Tim Berners-Lee. Encyclopedia). Tim Berners-Lee was an idealist. He wanted his creation to be available to everyone in the world. He could have made a lot of money from this, and almost anyone would have been in it for the fortune, but Berners-Lee was a different kind of man. The Internet was around before the Web, but only a very small select number of people could access it. "The Web has made it possible for nonspecialists to access and share knowledge and media electronically without knowing a thing about how computers work" (Cheek). Tim's original system was just to help him at the lab he worked at, and it was not called the Web either. He called it 'Enquire'. But once he realized the potential of his system and all the different kinds of people he could help, he immediately proposed to make the Web a reality for the world. A true hero is someone that helps humanity, not himself, and Tim Berners-Lee is exactly that.

No one likes someone who will not listen: someone who only listens to themselves. Tim Berners-Lee is exactly the opposite; he is open-minded. Tim is almost completely credited for creating the World Wide Web, but he says it took much more than one person. "He remains modest about his achievements, and says he was just one of a number of people pioneering these technologies. Important figures in the history of the internet, such as Ted Nelson, Doug Engelbart and Vinton Cerf, had all begun exploring similar ideas, and Berners-Lee took many of them on board to create the web" (Tim Berners-Lee. Newsmakers). Tim is a person that uses the ideas of the Internet community to create something everyone will like. It is easy to say that he should not be fully credited and is hogging the spotlight. But he always gives credit when credit is due, because without the rest of the community's ideas, there would be no Web as we know it. Tim Berners-Lee had made his vision a reality, but anyone's invention could always use work. "Over the next several years, Berners-Lee continued working on his design for the Web, accepting feedback from people who used the system" (Tim Berners-Lee. Encyclopedia). It is hard for many people to accept that they are not perfect, and neither are their ideas. Berners-Lee understands this, and it helps him continue to improve the largest communication system yet by letting others give input. Few people are willing to accept their flaws, but those who do are the ones that do amazing things.

Tim Berners-Lee is an incredibly innovative, wholesomely selfless, and happily open-minded human being. He did what he did to benefit humanity, and to improve communication through the Internet. Tim Berners-Lee is an inspiration to me and others. What he created affected so many people, helped them work, communicate, socialize, shop, entertain, and so much more. And he did it all without charging a dime, something unusual in the world today. Berners-Lee is looked at by many as the father of the Web, an inspiration, and a hero.