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from the thanks-to-you,-we-can-meet-here dept.
Leo L. Beranek, an engineer whose company designed the acoustics for the United Nations and concert halls at Lincoln Center and Tanglewood, then built the direct precursor to the internet under contract to the Defense Department, died on Oct. 10 at his home in Westwood, Mass. He was 102.
His death was confirmed by his son James.
Dr. Beranek taught acoustic engineering at Harvard and M.I.T. for more than three decades after World War II, conducting research there that laid the groundwork for acoustic advances with wide social impact, including noise standards for public buildings and airports. But one of his most notable achievements was well outside the field of acoustics.
In 1969, the company he helped found, Bolt, Beranek & Newman, won a contract from the Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency to build the first computer-based network, which came to be called Arpanet.
When were you first exposed to the Arpanet/Internet? Did you ever use "Bang Paths" for sending e-mail?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 19 2016, @02:33AM
I didn't work at the MIT AI Lab in the Tech Square building, but a good friend did -- he brought me in one evening and demonstrated email over the Arpanet, probably to someone at Stanford (memory fades), around 1974. At the time I thought it was an interesting demonstration, but since I didn't know anyone at Stanford it didn't seem all that useful...in 20-20 hindsight, this clearly shows my lack of imagination back then!
The mention of bang paths in addresses does ring a bell (faintly).
If you enjoy engineering bios, I highly recommend his autobiography. Unlike many successful people, he is the first one to admit that he had very good luck, on many occasions.
"Riding the Waves, A Life in Sound, Science, and Industry"
By Leo Beranek
https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/riding-waves [mit.edu]