JCR Licklider

The Advanced Research Projects Agency was created by President Dwight Eisenhower after the Soviets launched the Sputnik satellite in October, 1957.

The Soviet launch caused a crisis in American confidence. ARPA was formed to ensure that America would not again be caught off guard on the technological frontier. In 1962, J.C.R. Licklider went to work for ARPA. Licklider, a psychologist and computer scientist, believed that computers could be used to augment human thinking and suggested that a computer network be established to allow ARPA research contractors to communicate information with each other efficiently. Licklider did not actually build his proposed network, but his idea lived on when he left ARPA in 1964.