Paul Baran, who died at age 84 on Saturday, was a co-developer of packet switching — the foundation of the Internet.
There is a much richer story. What motivated the Polish-born Baran was stark fear of the Soviet Union. Talking to Forbes ASAP’s George Gilder in 1997, Baran recalled a 1959 nightmare: A Soviet missile strike would wipe out America’s communication system and thus America’s ability to launch a massive retaliatory strike — the threat of which was the foundation of deterrence and peace.
Gilder’s 1997 piece – here — is a classic. It’s the only piece I know that tells the deep story of Paul Baran and his quest to invent packet switching. Enjoy.
's Categories: Business, Innovation & Science, Tech, byline=Rich Karlgaard
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I am the publisher of Forbes, have written a column for the magazine since 1998, and have blogged for Forbes.com since 2005. In 2004 I wrote a book, Life 2.0, which was a Wall Street Journal business best-seller. I travel 200,000 miles a year on the speech circuit and am regular guest on Fox News Channel's Forbes on Fox and a semi-regular one on CNBC's Kudlow & Co. Steve Forbes recruited me in 1992 to start Forbes ASAP, a technology magazine. Before that, I had co-founded two companies (Garage Technology Ventures, in 1997; and Upside Magazine in 1988) and one civic organization (the 6,500-member Churchill Club in 1985). I am currently an outside director for two tech companies: Intelius, a search provider; and Flow Mobile, a broadband wireless company.
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