Issacson speaks on ‘Innovators’ at JCC

By ALAN SMASON

Walter Issacson returned home again with a new book. This time his tome was not on just one individual as he had done previously for the likes of Benjamin Franklin, Henry Kissinger, Albert Einstein and Steven Jobs. This time he focused on similarities between several pivotal figures responsible for ushering in the digital age.

Biographer Walter Issacson talking about his book “The Innovators” on December 1 at the JCC. (Photo by Alan Smason)

In “The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution,” Issacson points to misunderstood figures like British computer scientist and cryptanalyst Alan Turing and Lord Byron’s daughter, Ada Lovelace.

Turing was a brilliant man, whose algorithms and theorems have established him in the minds of many as the father of modern computer technology. Even though he kept his homosexuality out of the spotlight, as Issacson said at his talk on Dec. 3,  “pretending not to be gay,” he was cited by Prime Minister Winston Churchill as having contributed significantly to the war effort by his breaking the Germans’ Enigma Code.

Lovelace understood that mathematical equations were no more difficult “and no bigger than her dad’s poetry,” Issacson stated.

The theme of this book and every theme of entrepreneurship that we do,” said Issacson, ” is it’s always been this ability to bring the humanities and technology together.”

Walter Issacson signs copies of his latest biography “The Innovators” at the JCC. (Photo by Alan Smason)

All of these innovators, Issacson said, stood at the crossroads of the arts and the humanities with technology. He believes their understanding of how to apply the two made success for the likes of Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates and others and helped bring about the modern technological giants like Apple and Microsoft as well as to create the Internet.

Following his talk before a packed audience of 300 and a brief period for questions, Issacson adjourned to the hallway and proceeded to sign copies of his work.

The event was sponsored by the Jewish Community Center through a gift from Cathy and Morris Bart and Octavia Books.