The Invention That Made the Internet Possible
In 1978, Dr. Roger Billings invented Universal Networking — the foundational technology behind how the modern internet shares information.
In this episode of ScienceLive, he tells the complete story for the first time, in his own words. It starts with a problem. J. Willard Marriott, founder of the Marriott Hotels empire, had 12 of IBM’s largest mainframe computers — the biggest the company made — and they still couldn’t keep up with reservation demand. IBM told him a 13th machine would crash the entire system. He needed a solution that didn’t exist yet. Dr. Billings invented one.
His concept was elegantly simple: instead of every computer trying to talk to every other computer simultaneously, create a dedicated “library” computer — what we now call a server — that any number of users could query independently. The result was a system that could scale to an unlimited number of users without overloading. He called it Universal Networking, patented it as U.S. Patent No. 4,714,989, and proved it worked by installing it at real businesses around the world using the Billings Microcomputer — one of the earliest personal computers ever built.
Today, every website, every app, and every internet transaction runs on this same client-server principle.
This is the story of one of the most important and least-known inventions of the 20th century — told by the man who invented it.
About DrB
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About the Roger Billings Scholarship Program »
the pneumatic air pressure “robot” was pretty interesting. maybe we should look into it more.
I love science live!
Listening to you discuss giving up your car for the students is so kind and priceless. Thank you for all you do for the students.
Great Ep and can’t wait for next week.
loved this video so informatinal
Are there other foreign language courses on the extended edition of acellus?
We are very gratefull for the scolarship. Thank you so much. Fam Rieger
I like acellus
I love Science live and all the things it teaches us.
I didnt know he made the internet. Thats lowkey tuff.
This live was so awesome I loved learning about the Internet
Thank y’all for the science live. God be with y’all, and have a blessed day.
WOW! Such a interesting video today!
I love how the video was talking about the Internet. Hello from Texas!
I watched it what amazing work
these lives are always so interesting!
I like learning about internet
i love watching these
I really enjoyed this science live it was cool.
your car is so cool, please don’t exchange it for a dirt bag Mercedes
It was so fun learning about technology
Science life it’s so fun!!!!
I enjoy these videos they are very fascinating to me.
This episode was my favorite!! I learned a lot about the internet that I didn’t know before!
The internet has come a long way!
Super cool presentation about the watches!!
Very interesting live broadcast!
Great Episode! Thank you Dr. Billings!
This live was so interesting!
I really enjoyed this science live because I love learning about Science.
I like the part about the robot that can move by air pressure.😁(●’◡’●)
I Love science live
Hello from Washingoton!
Awesome job as always! loved this video.
The air ran robot is so cool!
Could the Internet have a brighter future for Time Travel experience?
the artemis wwas soooooo cool anyone else watch it?
It was interesting to learn about the history of the Internet
Wow! I can not believe how people designed a robot with no electronics. I wonder if it can turn because it doesn’t have electronics… how could it be controlled or steered for future projects? Also, thank you so much for sacrificing so much of you for the well being and education of kids around the world!
You’re providing us with a great educational opportunity. Keep your car!!!!
love science live
Hi from tn
The Science Live was quite interesting!
This video was really good!
great science live I love learning about computers
This live was great! Thank you!
As the internet continues to evolve, I hope Dr. Roger Billings and his team discover a new form of the internet more advanced than what we can think of.
i love these science lives man!
hello from texas!
the scholarship is amazing and I am soo thankful for this program so thank you sooo much
Crazy how the Internet evolved since conception, actually really fascinating reading into it
Hello from California
I feel like this video from the last one I watched is a lot more interesting definitely best science live I’ve seen so far.
The crystals were so interesting and cool. I liked them a lot and the Internet was very fun to learn about. thank you science live.
Hi from Nevada
Hello from South Louisiana! I love Science Lives and all of the cool things we get to learn.
Universal networking sounds interesting. A good way to share information among groups of people!
Wow! I can not believe how people designed a robot with no electronics. I wonder if it can turn because it doesn’t have electronics… how could it be controlled or steered for future projects?
Awesome you basicly invented the internet
I really love the internet, I use it all the time for my games, internet search, and using AI to help me with my projects and machines I love building!
Every week I feel blessed to have a science live, thank you.
Learning about the internet is so exciting!
I never knew this! Every science live I learn something new about Dr. Billings and it shocks me everytime!
The live was so good!
Dr Billings created the server! WOW!!! MIND BLOWN 🤯!!!!!!!!!!! And to think they didn’t want to pay for it. Thank goodness for a patent.
Hi from Texas/Guanajuato Mexico, Who besides Bill Lear helped you through your work and studies?
I love to watch science live
This is so interesting!
North Carolina here!
I love Science Live!!!!!
Thank you so much for these!!
i love science live!
👏👏👏👏
THAT WAS SO FUN! I loved that robot , I was wondering if the robot could learn how to surf sense it can go in the water. THANKS!🤖🥳❤️
I love how the Internet lets you communicate in real time, with friends on the other side of the world.
How much did it cost to develop the first form of the internet?
Cant wait for next week! So entertaining
Thats so cool!!! Science live is the best!!!
hi from Florida
I loved the talk about the science fair and the air-controlled prototype that moved due to that air-pressure component.
I love everything on here they are so funny
I look forward to science live every week. I enjoy learning about the ways science has evolved.
the story behind the internet was very interesting.
The internet has come so far
“Thank you Mr. Billings.”
its nice to learn about the internet
I love science live!!!!!!!!!!
Hi from Florida!
I loved the video!
These videos are awesome
The FSD Billings was talking about sounded like a epic invention, and the idea of making a network to connect to other servers to a main computer.
This is the best one yet! Watching on vacation in Tn!!
coming from Texas ! Watching the live on youtube, love acellus
I did not know that the internet was so complex.
Loved this week’s science live.
R51’s project was so funny with the electronic chip ice cream, classic!😂 I learned so much today, and I have a question for DrB, what made you want to become an inventor?
wow I love science live!
Really loved this live.
i love science live
I enjoyed this! Thank you!
The concept of FSD is awesome.
Wow! I didn’t know crystals vibrate. It’s a pleasure as always watching Science Live. Thank you.
hold up. if you ate electonic chip ice cream, would you just die???
Its cool that you invented something so useful.
I watch Science Live every week and I always enjoy learning about Science!!!!!
I didn’t know Dr. Roger Billings invented the internet.
Watching from maryland
Always look forward to Science Live!
I’ve always wondered what the backstory was behind the internet, so thanks!
This science live was really great!
hello from Wisconsin!
Acellus is so lovely, I love hearing about science fair!
Hi from West Virginia!
Hello! From TX, excited for this live!
Thank you guys for this amazing video,,
I loved learning about the internet
Very funny joke from Dr. Tobias about crystal watches, liken to bringing a lightsaber to a sword fight!
hi fromMN
Wow, universal networking is an amazing invention and a very cool story!
I didn’t know the internet was so deep
I think the thought of having a computer that has to talk to all the other computers, and taking a long time is very very different from modern day computers that we rely on to answer our questions very quickly, and become dependent on.
I love that we learned about the internet and I love science lives so much.
This one was super good!
Hi from Kentucky. Great Video
Science live is awesome!!!!
This is so interesting! Love it
the internet is a cool place
I loved this so much
Loved tuning in! her from Texas.
Love from Texas!
the little robot crawling at the beach made my day. every science live is better than the last, but they’re all stellar
Thats so cool! What the 3-D printer makes looks exactly like a tiny bug! Can it survive in the deep depths of the ocean?
What are some plans that you have for Acellus in the future? Will you add more features to the website? For example, will you add more courses from other topics? Or, will you add more activities for us to do in our free time?
I love Science Live so much!!
I love learning new things
Learning the reality behind the internet was so cool!!!
Hello from Texas
Good science live!!!
i loved learning about how computers sent images to each other!
Chloe from Alabama
Enjoyed the video tonight.
Hello from Nebraska
This was awesome!
Love these lives
I loved this live, and I’m excited for the science fair.
I am lucky to receive the Roger Billings Scholarship. This learning experience has been better than any brick and mortar school. It’s challenging but it also provides me to be able to take a break if I get overwhelmed. Thank you for providing me with this learning opportunity.
Hello from Louisiana! Happy Early Easter Yall!
The modern life needs the powered robot.
Hi from New York
I thought this video was informative and interesting.
hello from utah.
I loved this week’s Science Live!! It was so very interesting to learn all these neat facts!
These lives never fail to keep me interested! I love watching each wednesday! I also love that we can go back and rewatch the lives.
Another great episode, I loved learning about the internet!
Love seeing the history behind the internet its very fascinating and cool.
I love science live! thank you!
Very cool, can’t wait for next week.
Science live is cool
i love science live
Thank you, this was cool!
Thank you for tonight’s live!!
I love learning about science!
I really enjoyed this live!
Thank you so much for this video, learning about science is always fun.
watching from Alaska
This show makes me so happy!
this vid is super cool, i am so captivated by the way yall teach us!
I am looking forward to seeing all the amazing projects for the science fair this year. I have some ideas, but I’m really excited as I’m going to work on them in conjunction with one of my classes so that I can be part of the science fair next year thank you.
Thank you for another interesting Science Live!
LOVE THE APP ACELLUS! I learn so much using this app! I love that i can do it on my computer too!
Amazing live, can’t wait for the next one
hi here in west virgnia
where would we be with no internet? so grateful
I got to learn about the cpu and memory ibm 370 mainframe and the history behind how the internet came about. Very cool information.
What a great live session!
Thank you Mr. Billings for the daily knowledge! I look forward to the next installment of Science Live.
I love homeschool! It helps me alot more and I’m happy there’s a scholarship for all of us!