Merlin the Magician
At the Start
LONDON (Reuters) - Tim Berners-Lee, the man who invented and then gave away the World Wide Web, has been picked as epitomising the Greatest of Britishness -- a quality Chancellor Gordon Brown said was unique.
His selfless act added to modesty and ingenuity were deemed by a panel of judges to make Berners-Lee the Greatest Briton of 2004 in the first of what organisers said on Thursday they hoped would become an annual event.
Brown, who opened the glittering award ceremony, said Britons were a wonderful people and invoked the bulldog spirit of World War Two leader Winston Churchill that he said was as valid now as in 1940.
"The true greatness of Britons ... lies in the extraordinary qualities of our people," he told guests at a gala dinner, citing fairness, civic duty, openness, wisdom and integrity.
"These are qualities that are more important now than they have been for many decades," he added.
Berners-Lee, who was not present at the awards ceremony, sent a video message of thanks.
Noted historian and panel member David Starkey said Berners-Lee's double acts of ingenuity and charity made him an automatic choice.
"He chose not to commercially exploit his invention. He gave it away almost wilfully. If he had fully exploited it, he would make Bill Gates look like a pauper today," he told Reuters.
Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1990 while at the European Particle Physics Laboratory in Geneva to let his fellow scientists work together even when in other parts of the world.
But instead of patenting his invention he chose to put it onto the Internet the following year, opening access to all -- and the rest is history.
He was knighted last year for an invention that has been likened in importance to the wheel.
"We all felt that with Tim Berners-Lee you were in the presence of someone of truly historic standing," Starkey said.
"There is something uniquely British in what he did.
"A Briton is an archetypal figure that no other nation could possibly produce," he added.
Mad dogs and Englishmen may be renowned for going out in the midday sun, but eccentricity is not the sole criteria that separates a Briton from the rest of the world.
"No single attribute makes a Great Briton," said mountaineer and balloonist David Hempleman-Adams, also a panel member. "It is a combination of diffidence, determination, a sharp sense of humour and adaptability."
The judges whittled down the initial field of 500 people nominated by the general public to a shortlist of 21.
From these, they chose a winner in each category, with each one getting 3,000 pounds in prize money.
Berners-Lee won the science category and went on to become by a clear majority the overall winner, taking home an extra 25,000 pounds.
His selfless act added to modesty and ingenuity were deemed by a panel of judges to make Berners-Lee the Greatest Briton of 2004 in the first of what organisers said on Thursday they hoped would become an annual event.
Brown, who opened the glittering award ceremony, said Britons were a wonderful people and invoked the bulldog spirit of World War Two leader Winston Churchill that he said was as valid now as in 1940.
"The true greatness of Britons ... lies in the extraordinary qualities of our people," he told guests at a gala dinner, citing fairness, civic duty, openness, wisdom and integrity.
"These are qualities that are more important now than they have been for many decades," he added.
Berners-Lee, who was not present at the awards ceremony, sent a video message of thanks.
Noted historian and panel member David Starkey said Berners-Lee's double acts of ingenuity and charity made him an automatic choice.
"He chose not to commercially exploit his invention. He gave it away almost wilfully. If he had fully exploited it, he would make Bill Gates look like a pauper today," he told Reuters.
Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1990 while at the European Particle Physics Laboratory in Geneva to let his fellow scientists work together even when in other parts of the world.
But instead of patenting his invention he chose to put it onto the Internet the following year, opening access to all -- and the rest is history.
He was knighted last year for an invention that has been likened in importance to the wheel.
"We all felt that with Tim Berners-Lee you were in the presence of someone of truly historic standing," Starkey said.
"There is something uniquely British in what he did.
"A Briton is an archetypal figure that no other nation could possibly produce," he added.
Mad dogs and Englishmen may be renowned for going out in the midday sun, but eccentricity is not the sole criteria that separates a Briton from the rest of the world.
"No single attribute makes a Great Briton," said mountaineer and balloonist David Hempleman-Adams, also a panel member. "It is a combination of diffidence, determination, a sharp sense of humour and adaptability."
The judges whittled down the initial field of 500 people nominated by the general public to a shortlist of 21.
From these, they chose a winner in each category, with each one getting 3,000 pounds in prize money.
Berners-Lee won the science category and went on to become by a clear majority the overall winner, taking home an extra 25,000 pounds.
