Category: Stories & Inspiration
Stories of science, technology, startup journeys and lessons from history.
Wire-Wrapped Boards and Wall Street Plans: Inside Apple’s Earliest Business Documents
Early Apple business plans donated to the Computer History Museum reveal how pioneers managed risks and internal politics during the Macintosh’s birth.
From Human Computers to Center Directors: Eight Decades at NASA Glenn
From World War II computing to executive leadership, women at NASA Glenn transformed aerospace research over eight decades of technical achievement.
Starlight, Mercury, and Gold: The Medieval and Ancient Search for Extended Life
Historical alchemists and philosophers, from ancient China to medieval Europe, sought to defeat physical decay through elixirs, astronomy, and elemental balance.
Shinya Yamanaka and the Discovery of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
How struggling surgeon Shinya Yamanaka pivoted to basic research and discovered induced pluripotent stem cells.
Ninety-Two Configurations and 556 Towers: How Claude Chappe Built the Semaphore Web
How 18th-century inventor Claude Chappe created the world’s first mechanical telegraph network across France using jointed optical semaphores.
The Browser PDF Flaw and the Hardware ROMs: Inside the Early Era of iOS Security Exploits
How early exploits by Nicholas Allegra and George Hotz forced Apple to fundamentally harden its mobile operating system security.
A Teletype at Leopold’s: How a 1973 Berkeley Mainframe Network Pioneered Digital Public Space
In 1973, a teletype terminal in a Berkeley record shop linked to a mainframe computer, establishing the world’s first public digital bulletin board system.
Data Alarms and Sixty Seconds of Fuel: The Manual Pilot Touchdown of Apollo 11
When Apollo 11’s guidance computer triggered data alarms during descent, Mission Control evaluations and manual piloting enabled touchdown on the Moon.
Stalks of Short Straw: Norman Borlaug and the Fieldwork That Fed Millions
How Norman Borlaug’s pragmatic, goal-oriented plant breeding in Mexico created high-yielding dwarf wheat, transforming global agriculture.
Three Layers and a Tech Tree: How Sid Meier and Bruce Shelley Built Civilization
How Sid Meier and Bruce Shelley combined city management, wargame mechanics, and a historical tech tree to create the original Civilization game.
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