Les Earnest
Encyclopedia
Lester Donald Earnest was born in the United States
on December 17, 1930. He began his career as a computer programmer in 1954 during a stint as a U.S. Navy Aviation Electronics Officer & Digital Computer Project Officer at Naval Air Development Center, Johnsville, Pennsylvania. In 1956 Les joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
to help design the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense system.
Starting in 1959 the focus of his career shifted to innovations within the field of word processing. During this time he was responsible for developing the "first pen-based computer system that reliably recognized cursive writing" and the first spell checker.
In the late 1960s Les continued to diversify the types of technologies he involved himself with. He made significant contributions in the fields of robotics through the creation of systems that coupled computer vision
with prosthetic and vehicular applications.
In 1965, Les became Executive officer at Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and he soon became deeply involved with the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPAnet
) startup committee. This association would lead him to the one innovation he has received the most acclaim for: The invention of the Finger protocol
(RFC 742) in the early 1970s.
Accomplishments in computing aside, Les is also a long-time bicycle enthusiast. He has served as director and/or officer in several prominent cycling associations including the U.S. Cycling Federation, the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame, and the Federation of Independent Associations for Cycling.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on December 17, 1930. He began his career as a computer programmer in 1954 during a stint as a U.S. Navy Aviation Electronics Officer & Digital Computer Project Officer at Naval Air Development Center, Johnsville, Pennsylvania. In 1956 Les joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
to help design the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense system.
Starting in 1959 the focus of his career shifted to innovations within the field of word processing. During this time he was responsible for developing the "first pen-based computer system that reliably recognized cursive writing" and the first spell checker.
In the late 1960s Les continued to diversify the types of technologies he involved himself with. He made significant contributions in the fields of robotics through the creation of systems that coupled computer vision
Computer vision
Computer vision is a field that includes methods for acquiring, processing, analysing, and understanding images and, in general, high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical or symbolic information, e.g., in the forms of decisions...
with prosthetic and vehicular applications.
In 1965, Les became Executive officer at Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and he soon became deeply involved with the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPAnet
ARPANET
The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network , was the world's first operational packet switching network and the core network of a set that came to compose the global Internet...
) startup committee. This association would lead him to the one innovation he has received the most acclaim for: The invention of the Finger protocol
Finger protocol
In computer networking, the Name/Finger protocol and the Finger user information protocol are simple network protocols for the exchange of human-oriented status and user information.-Name/Finger protocol:...
(RFC 742) in the early 1970s.
Accomplishments in computing aside, Les is also a long-time bicycle enthusiast. He has served as director and/or officer in several prominent cycling associations including the U.S. Cycling Federation, the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame, and the Federation of Independent Associations for Cycling.