Massive original hand-drawn history mural co-created and signed by computer pioneer Dr. Douglas Engelbart, entitled “The Co-Evolution of Human and Tool Systems,” which captures his seminal theories of ‘raising collective IQ’ and the ‘co-evolution of human and tool systems,’ ideas that inspired the invention of the computer mouse and his other world-changing technology innovations. Created in 2008 for display at the 40th-anniversary celebration of Engelbart’s iconic 1968 ‘Mother of All Demos,’ the mural measures 24-feet-long and 4-feet-high and features a sweeping illustrated timeline that depicts key events in technology and culture from 1925, the date of Dr. Engelbart’s birth, to 2010. Similar to a map, the mural has keys on the side showing the different streams of information. Dr. Engelbart embraced the mural as a way to advance the dialogue about his theories and to promote discourse that would help solve the ‘complex and urgent problems’ of our time.
The mural was created in collaboration with Dr. Engelbart on paper with markers and pastels by visual journalist Eileen Clegg and Dr. Engelbart’s longtime collaborator, Valerie Landau, a university technology professor and innovation director. Clegg and Landau were inspired to create the mural with Dr. Engelbart because of his desire for dialogue. He said the original motivation for his inventions was ‘to raise the collective IQ of humanity’ in order to solve ‘complex and urgent problems’; a personal quest that some have coined the ‘unfinished revolution.’ For Engelbart, the murals intended to capture his ideas in an open-ended way and to encourage fruitful discussion. He participated in many events with the mural, allowing people to approach and study it, share their thoughts and concerns, and add post-it notes with their ideas.
Over the years, Dr. Engelbart’s inventions and his theories have been carried forward by others—for example, Logitech mass-produced the mouse with over one billion mice sold, and the inventor of Siri, Adam Cheyer, credited Engelbart’s theories for helping his innovation process. Despite the successes of his ideas, Engelbart insisted that ‘we still need dialogue.’ Because of Engelbart’s theory that technology needed to co-evolve with culture, the artists included many diverse topics, from world events and psychological theories to even popular music of the time. By looking at the connections between cultural and technological shifts, mural viewers could identify patterns that helped them understand more deeply the problems of, and possibilities for, humanity. Accompanying the murals are photos showing Engelbart at various events with the mural and his fellow artists.
