Page 44 - Great Elizabethans

The computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web and was instrumental in the development of the Internet, which would completely change the way people communicate, buy things, work and learn forever.
FAMILY OF MATHEMATICIANS
In the early 1950s, two mathematicians, Mary Lee Woods and Conway Berners-Lee, met and fell in love. They had a lot in common – in fact, they were both working on a computer called the Ferranti Mark 1, which was one
of the first computers that people could buy!
In 1955, their first child was born in Richmond, London – a son called
Timothy, who inherited his parents’ mathematical gifts. As a little boy, Tim liked model railways and trainspotting. He was thoughtful and quiet and liked working things out. His parents encouraged him to use maths
to solve problems, even at the dinner table! They also talked to him about computers and what these machines could ‘understand’ – and the potential they had to change people’s lives.
PHYSICS AND TIDDLYWINKS
Tim decided to study physics at Oxford University and was very good at it. Tim’s youngest He achieved a first-class degree, but he also got into trouble for hacking the
brother, Mike, is an impressive scientist too – he’s an expert on greenhouse gases!
university computer with a friend. As a punishment, he was banned from using it – so he built his own computer with a soldering iron and an old television! He also found the time to play tiddlywinks against Cambridge University.
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