Google It: A History of Google

by Anna Crowley Redding

Overview

In Google It, award-winning investigative reporter Anna Crowley Redding shares an inspiring story of innovation, personal and intellectual bravery, and most importantly, of shooting for the moon in order to change the world.

Think. Invent. Organize. Share. Don't be evil. And change the world.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin started out as two Stanford college students with a wild idea: They were going to organize the world's information. From that one deceptively simple goal, they created one of the most influential and innovative companies in the world.

The word “google” has even entered our vocabulary as a verb. Now, find out the true history of Google—from its humble beginnings as a thesis project made out of “borrowed” hardware and discount toys through its revolution of the world's relationship with technology to a brief glimpse of where they might take us next.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250792105
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	06/29/2021
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	245,351
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Before diving into the deep end of writing for children, Anna Crowley Redding's first career was as an Emmy-award winning investigative television reporter, anchor, and journalist. The recipient of multiple Edward R. Murrow awards and recognized by the Associated Press for her reporting, Redding now focuses her stealthy detective skills on digging up great stories for kids—which, as it turns out, is her true passion. She is the author of Elon Musk, Google It, and Black Hole Chasers, among others.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Frenemies + Homework + Leges = Google?

Chapter 1

A Cold, Hard, Google-less World 02

Frenemies: Fight@1stSight 6

Sergey Brin 9

Larry Page 12

Chapter 2

Homework 14

Backlinks 18

Beg, Borrow, Stalk 21

Gates 360 Office Tour 24

Chapter 3

The Long-Lost Nightmare: Search Before Google 26

Page Rank 29

Liftoff 32

Let Me Give You a Little Advice 34

Chapter 4

#Spelling 36

Grad School Dropouts 40

America's Most Misspelled Words 46

Chapter 5

Google world Headquarters 48

The Power of the (Almost) Blank Page 54

Don't Mind if I Doo-dle 58

Chapter 6

Rules Are for Breaking 60

Let's Make a Deal 64

Read My Mind 66

Chapter 7

Y2K 68

Google News 73

Chapter 8

Ballying Cry 76

Perhaps Advertising Isn't as Evil as We Thought 80

Scale 84

Google Shopping 86

Chapter 9

Parental Supervision 88

Show Me the Money 93

Going Once, Going Twice, Sold! 95

Rank 2.0 98

The Picture that Launched a Thousand Lines of Code 99

Part 2 Google it!

Chapter 10

Googler (Person Who Works at Google) 102

Life as a Googler 105

Give 100 20 Percent 106

TGIF 108

Google World Headquarters (for Real) 110

Google Books 115

Chapter 11

That's No Joke! 120

A Google-y Mess 125

Goog 128

Google Earth 131

Chapter 12

Troubled Waters 134

Barrier Broken 138

Chapter 13

Verb 142

Verb+ 146

Life Before Google Maps 148

Chapter 14

You Tube 152

Going Mobile 163

Maps + Gaming = Gold, I Tell You. Gold! 164

Chapter 15

Beyond Search: The Recipe for Alphabet Soup 168

A Is for Alphabet 173

An (Almost) Impossible Code Challenge 176

Part 3 Impossible Goal + Attempt (+/- Success) = Moonshot

Chapter 16

A Healthy Disregard for the Impossible 180

The Brain 184

Robots + AI = The Robots Are Coming! The Robots Are Coming! 188

Chapter 17

Send In the Cars 190

Not to Drone On…But! 196

Chapter 18

Wear It! 198

Could I Get Some Assistance? 203

Chapter 19

U Is for UFO 206

Shoot for the Moon 211

Eternal Life: The Final Frontier 216

Verily We Go Along 218

Chapter 20

The More We Change, the More We Stay the Same 220

Source Notes 224

Bibliography 225

Acknowledgments 231

Editorial Reviews

"Investigative journalist Redding does an admirable job of chronicling Larry and Sergey’s amazing successes and will inspire young people to follow in their ingenious footsteps. It’s more comprehensive than other books for young readers about Google’s founders, with energetically written short chapters, interesting facts, graphics, and photos" —Booklist, starred review

"This readable and breezy history of the tech behemoth [is] An appealing and timely look at a universally relevant subject and a good fit for STEAM-related reading lists." —School Library Journal

"This chronological history of the first two decades of Google is attractively packaged to appeal to a teen audience. ... Humorous accounts of Google's unpretentious beginnings as a student project, and its early years as a bare-bones startup in a friend's garage will intrigue teens who dream of growing their own projects into software and devices used by millions." —VOYA

From the Publisher

07/01/2018
Gr 6 Up—This readable and breezy history of the tech behemoth begins with the 1995 meeting of cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University, where Google (initially called BackRub) began as their doctoral thesis. Short chapters dip back to Page's and Brin's childhoods, then rapidly trace the company's time line to the present, providing ample context, which is particularly important, given that the intended audience is likely to need some background on business and tech concepts and to imagine how life was before Google. Well-placed images, callouts, and short interstitial chapters ("Not To Drone on, but…") add humor, clarify noteworthy points, and underscore the strong sense of pacing. Although the consistently cheerful tone is inviting and contributes to ease of reading, it also glosses over some more problematic aspects of Google and Alphabet, its umbrella company. Recent news about YouTube (an Alphabet subsidiary) has ranged from disheartening to disturbing, while controversy has swirled regarding Google's handling of diversity initiatives. Difficult issues, such as the compromise with the Chinese government over censorship, are mentioned, but Redding stops short of questioning whether Google has strayed from its famous ethical motto: "Don't be evil." Instead Page, Brin, and Google are cast as central (and largely sympathetic) figures in a narrative of conquest. VERDICT An appealing and timely look at a universally relevant subject and a good fit for STEAM-related reading lists.—Miriam DesHarnais, Towson University, MD

School Library Journal