Tim Berners-Lee is not the most famous inventor in the world. However, his invention has changed our lives.
He was born in London, England in 1955. When he was a small boy, Tim was interested in playing with electrical things. He studied science at Oxford University. He made his first computer from an old television at the age of 21.
Tim started working on early computers. At that time, they were much bigger than now. He worked in England then Switzerland. Tim was really interested in two things, computers and how the brain works. How could the brain connect so many facts so quickly? He had to work with people all over the world. They shared information about computers. It was hard to manage all the information. He answered the same questions again and again.Ittook a lot of time. It was even difficult for computers in the same office in Switzerland to share information, Tim also forgot things easily. Could a computer work like a brain? Could it “talk” to other computers?
There was an Internet already but it was difficult to use. In 1989, Tim Berners—Lee invented the World Wide Web (WWW) all by himself. This had a special language that helped computers talk to each other on the Internet. When people wanted to share information with others, they used the World Wide Web. The Internet grew quickly after that.
Tim Berners—Lee doesn't think he did anything special. He says that all of the ideas about the Internet were already there. All he did was to put them together. He says that many other people worked together to make the Internet what it is today.
Most inventors want to become rich. But Tim gave away the World Wide Web for nothing. He now works in America. He helps people share technology and wants the Internet to be free for everyone to use. Maybe he is the most important but least famous inventor in the world today!
