The story of the man who instigated the work that led to the internetand shifted our understanding of what computers could be.amp10amp10Behind every great revolution is a vision and behind perhaps the greatest revolution of our time is the vision of J.C.R. Licklider. He did not design the first personal computers or write the software that ran on them nor was he involved in the legendary early companies that brought them to the forefront of our everyday experience. He was instead a relentless visionary who saw the potential in the way that individuals could interact with computers and software.amp10amp10At a time when computers were a short step removed from mechanical data processors Licklider was writing treatises on humancomputer symbiosis amp8220computers as communication devicesamp8221 and a now notsounfamiliar amp8220Intergalactic Network.amp8221 His ideas became so influential his passion so contagious that author M. Mitchell Waldrop calls him amp8220computings Johnny Appleseed.amp8221amp10amp10In a simultaneously compelling personal narrative and comprehensive historical exposition Waldrop tells the story of the man who not only instigated the work that led to the internet but also shifted our understanding of what computers were and could be.amp10amp10This Stripe Press edition also includes the original texts of Licklideramp8217s three most influential writings amp8220ManComputer Symbiosisamp8221 1960 which outlines the vision that led to the personal computer revolution of the 1970s his amp8220Intergalactic Networkamp8221 memo 1963 which outlines the vision that inspired the internet and amp8220The Computer as a Communication Deviceamp8221 1968 coauthored with Robert Taylor which amplifies his vision for what the network could become.