Robert Metcalf, one of the leading engineers of Ethernet, was finally awarded the Turing Award by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), almost 50 years after his invention was born. 50 years seemed like a long time, but he was Fifty years may seem like a long time, but it seems that he was so busy that he did not have time to receive the Turing Award.

The bibliographical section of his Turing Award announcement (open in new tab) lists the many awards Metcalf received for his work. Among them are the "National Medal of Technology, IEEE Medal of Honor, Marconi Award, Japan Computer Communications Award, ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award, and IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Inventors Hall of Fame, the National Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame, and the National Internet Hall of Fame.

Bob is slightly decorated.

Metcalf received two Bachelor of Science degrees in electrical engineering and industrial management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Science degree in applied mathematics from Harvard University.

He initially submitted a doctoral dissertation on improving networking at Harvard, but it was rejected as theoretically inadequate. Thus, his plan to connect the university's computers to the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPAnet), the first practical packet-switched network and the origin of the Internet Protocol (IP address), was scuttled. While Harvard turned up its nose, MIT welcomed the innovation and hired him as Project Mac, making his dream of connectivity a reality.

He and co-inventor David Boggs brought Ethernet to life when he designed and built the Arpanet interface for the new PARC computer. The success of Ethernet was due to the fact that the two solved the problem of clogged data logs in the current telephone network. Inspired by the University of Hawaii's attempt to link many islands through ALOHAnet, Ethernet, improved from there, facilitated packet data transfer

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It was enough to convince Metcalf to award a master's degree to Harvard University, and his enthusiastic application and continued advocacy over the years led to Ethernet becoming a standard worldwide.

Interestingly, Ethernet was originally called the "Ether Network." Although it sounds like a ghost in the machine when you say it back, according to the International Journal of Communication, there is a rather metaphysical ancient connection to the name.

Not only did Aristotle use the word ether to describe the primordial substance of all things, but Newton spoke of it as a substance that "freely penetrates the pores of every body." Or as Joe Milchis calls it in his 2006 book, "The Ether: The Nothing That Connects Everything": Or as Joe Milchis, in his 2006 book, "The Nothing That Connects Everything," "Newton's Rational non-rational elements of the universe," as he calls it.

And while spiritualists have no doubt devoured the term, the main reference Metcalf and Boggs point to is the experiments by 19th century physicists Michelson and Morley.

Not so.

"Metcalf and Boggs affectionately named the two alts they were studying "Michelson" and "Morley."

From Aristotle to Metcalf and Boggs, the ether has come a long way in connecting our world. Metcalf's award is indeed fitting, as it honors the invention that gave substance to the once rather irrational term ether.