Radio Silence, Logistics, and Algorithms

Who are some underrated people in history?

Some people are destined for greatness. Others have greatness thrust upon them. Then there are the people who are in the background doing all the heavy lifting. These are the people who end up becoming the answer to some obscure trivia question. In today’s post, I’m going to talk about four underrated historical figures.

• Michael Collins: The “third man” on the Apollo 11 mission who stayed in the orbiter while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. He’s the ultimate example of doing vital, solitary work without the spotlight. He’s more famous than Pete Best (the “fifth Beatle”), but less famous than Ringo Starr. Not to be confused with the Irish Revolutionary figure of the same name, Collins stayed in the orbiter behind the moon for 48 minutes in total radio silence. That is the definition of a “Sleepless Knight”.

• Bayard Rustin: To use superhero parlance, Rustin was Martin Luther King Jr.’s “guy in the chair.” It’s not commonly known that he was actually the primary architect of the March on Washington. He stayed behind the scenes because his identity was seen as a “distraction” at the time, yet he did the grit-level logistics that made the movement successful. The next time you look back on the March on Washington and think about how orderly and peaceful it was, thank Bayard Rustin.

• Ada Lovelace: Often overshadowed by Charles Babbage, she was the first to realize computers could do more than just math and wrote the first algorithm. Looking back now, I don’t know if the old computer store Babbage’s would’ve worked better with a name like Lovelace. Such a visionary was she that she saw a future and a world her contemporaries couldn’t even begin to imagine.

• Nikola Tesla: Perhaps the most famous “underrated” figure of recent times. I like to think of him as the Sony Betamax of electricity. He came along with a superior concept—Alternating Current—but he was up against the marketing machine of Thomas Edison. Tesla did the work, while Edison took the credit and the patents. It’s a classic case of the better tech getting relegated to the background because it lacked the ‘glitz’ of the competition.

History is littered with these “behind the scenes” people. The next time you study a historical invention, dig a little deeper than Wikipedia. You might be surprised by what you learn.

Speaking of “no glitz,” Episode 10 of Rebuilding Rob: The Podcast: No Glitz. Just the Work, is now live on Spotify. This episode takes a more relaxed, reflective tone as I dive into the reality of the rebuild. If you want to check out a more in-depth “Director’s Cut” of the episode notes, come back to the blog at 10:00 AM!

Rebuilding a life takes grit, consistency, and a lot of ‘Option C’ thinking. Whether I’m closing in on 1,000 consecutive days of blogging or reflecting on the decade of work that brought me here, the mission remains the same: No glitz. Just the work. New to the blog? Start your journey here to see the blueprint and the ‘Tricorder’ perspective behind the rebuild.

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The article “Radio Silence, Logistics, and Algorithms” first appeared in Rebuilding Rob.

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