You Know the @ Symbol, But Do You Know About the Father of Email?

You Know the @ Symbol, But Do You Know About the Father of Email?

Key Takeaways

• Email was invented in the early 1970s. 

• Before this invention, people could send messages only to others using the same computer.

• The inventor picked the "@" symbol to separate the user name from the computer name, a symbol we still use today.

• He was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame in 2012 for this work.

• The first message he sent travelled only about 100 yards, between two computers in the same room.

Email feels like the most normal thing in the world today. We use it to apply for jobs, talk to teachers, and even shop online. But before email existed, people had to wait days for letters to reach each other, or rely on phone calls and telegrams.

Someone changed all of that more than 50 years ago. He was not a businessman or a famous scientist with a big lab. He was a quiet computer programmer working on a government project, and he built something so simple that it is still used by billions of people every single day, almost in the exact same form he created it in. 

He even picked a symbol for it that has become one of the most recognised signs on the planet. Who was the father of email, and how did he end up changing the way the whole world talks? Let’s find out. 

Who is Known As the Father of Email?

Raymond Samuel Tomlinson, known as Ray Tomlinson, is the computer programmer who invented the first system that could send mail between users on different computers connected to ARPANET. Before his invention, mail could only be sent to other people using the same computer.

The Lemelson MIT mentions: “Ray Tomlinson, a renowned computer programmer, is credited as the inventor of email on the ARPANET system, the predecessor to the Internet. He revolutionized the way businesses operate and people communicate throughout the world.”

Tomlinson was born in Amsterdam, New York, on April 23, 1941. He completed his Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1963, and also interned at IBM during his college years. 

He later earned his master's degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1967. After finishing his studies, he joined Bolt, Beranek and Newman, now called BBN Technologies, where he worked for the rest of his career.

Tomlinson's main achievement is also remembered for his choice of the "@" symbol to separate a user name from the destination computer address. This small choice became one of the most recognised symbols in the world today.

There has been some debate over the years, with another person, Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai, claiming that he invented email. However, there are arguments stating that Ayyadurai actually invented the first electronic messaging service over a computer. 

Tomilson is the one who invented a cross computer connection whereas as per reports Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai is known to design the digital inbox.

For his contribution, Tomlinson earned a place in the Internet Hall of Fame, as part of the very first group inducted into it in 2012.

When Did He Invent Email?

Tomlinson invented the first system that could send mail between users on different computers in 1971, while working on ARPANET, the early network that became the basis of today's Internet.

At the time, a program called SNDMSG already allowed people to send messages to others using the same computer. Tomlinson worked to get a message to move from one computer to a separate one, and in 1971, this effort succeeded. 

The very first email travelled only about 100 yards, going from one computer to a router in the same building, and then on to a second computer.

Tomlinson once explained that the two computers he used were so close that he could simply wheel his chair from one keyboard to the other to type and check his messages. Today, email is used by billions of people, sending hundreds of billions of messages every single day.

MCQs

1. Who is known as the father of email?
a) Vint Cerf
b) Tim Berners-Lee
c) Ray Tomlinson
d) Bill Gates

Answer: c) Ray Tomlinson

2. In which year did Ray Tomlinson invent email?
a) 1969
b) 1971
c) 1975
d) 1980

Answer: b) 1971

3. What is the old name used for the early messaging program before networked email?
a) SNDMSG
b) ARPANET
c) BBN Mail
d) NetSend

Answer: a) SNDMSG

4. Which symbol did Ray Tomlinson choose for email addresses?
a) #
b) &
c) @
d) %

Answer: c) @

5. Ray Tomlinson worked at which company while inventing email?
a) IBM
b) Bolt Beranek and Newman
c) Microsoft
d) AT&T

Answer: b) Bolt Beranek and Newman

Email may look like a small, everyday thing now, but it started as a simple experiment by one engineer trying to solve a basic problem. Ray Tomlinson's idea of sending a message between two different computers, using the now famous "@" symbol, grew into one of the biggest forms of communication in history.